Running out of Days
by horsecrazy2
Summary: M/A Chapter 17: Alec and Max move into a new apartment.
1. Default Chapter

A/N: This is my first fic posted on fanfiction.net, but that doesn't mean I want you guys to  
tell me it's good if it's really not. 'Kay? I'm up to constructive criticism. Anything to  
make my writing better. Just no flaming, because that will piss me off. This might be a  
bit confusing at first, and I'm sure you'll have a lot of questions about what's going on, but  
the chapters following will explain the events leading up to the prologue. Hope you  
enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with Dark Angel; I just love the show and  
think it has a lot of good ideas to follow up in writing. None of the characters belong to  
me, but if anyone wants to give me Alec, I've got no complaints. lol  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Prologue  
_________________________________________________________________________  
Death  
  
  
Space Needle  
Seattle Wa., September 26th, 2021  
  
  
  
The nighttime lights of Seattle beckoned from below.   
  
He heard their call; like the legendary sirens who lured sailors to fortuitous deaths  
with the alluring hail of song. In the remnants of the broken city, they gleamed like  
diamonds within barren desertland.  
  
The bottle touched his lips briefly; burning liquid descended his throat. He felt  
the warmth traverse to his stomach.  
  
Covetous wind grasped for his unmoving figure; its touch thrust chill fingers  
through the alcohol-induced haze.  
  
He closed his eyes, took another drink. Beautiful hazel eyes eclippsed for a  
moment by fluttering lashes. When he looked again, they were still waiting. The lights;  
the darkness, embracing him from all sides. He perused the post-Pulse rubble of Seattle  
through cold, dead eyes.  
  
Insomnia had prompted him to the liquor cabinent that night, and from there to  
Max's favorite sanctuary. He'd come here to be with her before. He knew of the Space  
Needle's magic, how its spell picked gently through the distorted jumble of thoughts and  
images thrown together at will inside your head.   
  
But this night of cold and loneliness, Alec found that the sorcery had chosen to  
desert him.  
  
The images could not be blocked, forgotten, no matter how desperately he tried.  
  
And the single thought which insisted on rearing its ugly little head.   
  
*I killed her.*  
  
Four words which refused to be buried, nudged back to the deepest recesses of his  
consciousness.  
  
Alec felt his stomach heave, the acidic burn of bile against the flesh of his throat.   
He squeezed his eyes shut again. The bottle trembled its way to his lips; another swig of  
the amber liquid sloshing inside worked its way through his insides.  
  
He stepped to the edge of the Needle and peered down into swirling blackness, to  
the pavement far below. It glowed with a sheen of water from the day's earlier rain  
squall. The fading wetness permeated the air with a fresh, pure scent.  
  
And yet, underneath the pleasant smell, he sensed the tang of blood.  
  
Death.  
  
He had not killed her near the Needle, but the odor seemed to cling to him,  
hugging each curve, nestling within each folded crevice of clothing. A permanent stench  
to remind him of his failure.  
  
Scars no longer showed from the encounter; only the ones on his soul. His  
beautiful, manufactured body now perfectly intact.  
  
But inside, his soul writhed, and screamed, desperate to free itself.  
  
He contemplated the shining pavement several hundred feet down.  
  
A jangling erupted from his pocket, shattering the peace of the silent night. He  
reached to still it, his fingers drawing the cell phone into the cold, wet air. He clicked it  
off, hefted it for a moment in one hand, then hurled it off the building.  
  
It disappeared into the blanket of dark, tumbling end over end, until it exploded  
into a million pieces with the crack of severing plastic. The crunch wafted audibly to his  
hypersensitive ears.   
  
Another drink.  
  
He imagined his body following the same path; blood spattering; gore coating the  
street and few cars parked nearby.  
  
A fitting end, for a murderer such as himself.   
  
"Run, Alec!"  
  
Her scream reverbated throughout his mind.  
  
"Run, dammit, you asshole!"  
  
  
He remembered the bullet's impact, the thunk as it lodged in soft flesh.   
Remembered her head snapping up, to peer frightened-eyed into his stunned face.   
  
Alec couldn't save her. They'd taken her away, loaded her prostate body into an  
unmarked white van, then turned to finish him off.  
  
He'd been upon them before they could react; a whirling dervish of motion,  
punching, kicking, spinning, his fury lending him strength incredible for even an X-5.   
They fell before him without getting a single shot off.  
  
The cock of a hammer had turned his body in the direction of the van. He'd  
blurred to escape the volley, a shower of bullets fired from the driver's seat.  
  
Not fast enough. They'd taken him in the abdomen, three in all, a stray nicking  
his right shoulder.  
  
And while he lay bleeding, broken, bodily fluids spreading like an oil slick  
beneath him, the van squealed away.  
  
Carrying Max to the nearest scientific laboratory, to be dissected and studied.  
  
*I killed her. I wasn't fast enough. I didn't do enough to save her.*  
  
His fingers closed hard on the liquor bottle; Alec felt the glass buckle under his  
mighty grip. Broken shards pierced the flesh of his palm.   
  
He allowed the damaged remains to crumble slowly to the surface of the Space  
needle. The pain in his hand barely registered within the fogged depths of his brain.   
  
A single drop of wetness twined the length of his face; a tear, perhaps, or liquid  
drawn free with the sting of the wind.  
  
He swallowed hard, eyes slipping closed again.  
  
Her presence lingered all around him; the very walls of her favorite place to come  
and think had managed to retain some semblance of her. He basked in it for a moment,  
closing his eyes to the faroff sound of honking horns and angry shouts.  
  
High above, in his own world, Alec could not be touched. The rain that began  
once more-soft and light at first, increasing in its power as time passed-soaked his  
clothes, but he could not feel the numbing wetness.   
  
His eyes fluttered lethargically open.  
  
He took a final, speculative look around-a good-bye of sorts, he supposed-and  
paced forward another step, until he teetered half out in space, only his incredible  
balance saving him from a fatal plunge.  
  
"I'm sorry Max." he whispered to the night, the liquid streaming down his  
cheekbones not entirely comprised of rainwater.  
  
His legs tensed to jump.  
  
The blackness reached out for him. 


	2. Hatred

A/N: I'm doing the story backwards, because I wanted to experiment with writing the prologue a different way. The prologue takes place *after* the actual story; the chapters tell what happens leading up to the prologue. Which means, yes, you won't find out Max's fate and whether or not Alec turns himself into a human pancake until the epilogue. Cruel? Probably. Thank you for the reviews; you guys said such nice things! My next chapters will probably be longer; I had some trouble with this one. I hope you all enjoy! Please R&R. Any help to improve my writing is welcome. I appologize for any grammar or spelling mistakes; I'm the only one checking this thing over and am not going to catch everything, I'm sure. Also, I'm changing the rating to R for language and subject matter; I'm planning on making this very dark and violent.  
  
Disclaimer: Dark Angel and all things associated with it belong to Fox; I own nothing. Don't bother suing me; I'm broke like you wouldn't believe, so you're not going to get much.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter One  
____________________________________________________________________________  
Hatred  
  
  
  
Streets  
Seattle Wa., September 3rd, 2021  
  
  
  
He lay contemplating his innards with a curious sort of detachment. Fingers slick  
with the gore spilled from his own body, crimson thick upon them even as the tempest  
raging overhead sought to purify flesh.  
  
They came for him in an ever-tightening circle, swinging chains, and 2-by-4's, his  
most violent tormentor still clutching the knife that had opened his gut.  
  
A blow aimed at his ribs curled the boy into fetal position.   
  
Animosity hung thick within the taut atmosphere; he felt its presence all around.   
In the roughness of their eyes, and the hard-featured planes of faces twisted in loathing.  
  
"Fuckin' tranny." Disgust rang clear in the words.  
  
And the beatings resumed, more furious than before, fueled by their growing  
anger. He spasmed beneath each blow, fresh blood spreading across the pavement.   
  
Vomit seared his throat; the boy turned to empty the remnants of his last meal  
onto the street. The foam of blood bubbled on his cracked lips. He swiped a grimy  
sleeve over his mouth.  
  
The rain cooled errant rivers of bodily fluids with a light hiss of protest at such  
grisly work. He watched the blood stream in ribbons from his shattered body, blurred  
into incongruous lines by hazy vision.  
  
Another surge of blood frothed to his mouth; he spat it toward the body nearest  
him.   
  
A devastating blow to the head rewarded his final show of defiance.  
  
The boy welcomed the coming darkness.  
  
He felt the chill of Death's touch all through him, his waning hearing picking up  
on sudden angry shouts in those final moments before his spirit rose. The mob drew  
back; the boy felt their body heat dissipate into the damp surroundings.  
  
Someone crouched beside him. The passage of gentle fingertips sent warmth  
through the shroud of Death.  
  
He smiled into the hand that cupped his cheek, and slipped quietly away.  
  
  
  
  
She moved with the agility and strength present only in others of her kind. They  
shrank in fear and parted before her, slack-jawed in their terror as this lithe young woman  
felled his murderers right and left.  
  
Anger burned fierce within. She felt its warmth penetrate her entire body.   
Adrenaline numbed all other emotions; it's metallic sharpness danced upon her lips.   
  
Bone crunched; Max felt it give way beneath her fist. The man before her went  
down in a violent clash of rainwater and gore. She spun, and drop-kicked another in the  
face.  
  
Falling rain glanced off steel; she dodged the knife thrust toward her chest. The  
follow-through carried her attacker off balance. Her heel knocked him upside the back  
of the head, plunging him into churned mire.  
  
"What the fuck are you?" one of the few left standing gasped.  
  
"Pissed off." Max said, and blurred to meet him with a vicious backfist across  
the face.  
  
Those who could took now to the streets, running with a speed born upon terror,  
moving impressively quick for norms. Only the mutilated body and young woman  
remained now, curling mists working slowly to embrace the morbid scene.  
  
She crouched slowly beside him.   
  
Max stroked sodden hair from the boy's forehead. Beneath the rivulets of blood,  
she glimpsed his youthful features, and the quiet serenity of his pale face.  
  
Bitterness surged hot in her breast. *He shouldn't have died. Not like this. He's  
just a kid.* The young man's body spoke of one no more than thirteen, perhaps fourteen  
years of age. But so badly had it been mangled by the mob's cruel beatings, little more of  
his identity could be guessed.   
  
Another glance roused tears from beyond her rain-dampened lashes.  
  
*I'm sorry I couldn't save you.*   
  
The rain slowed in tempo, almost as though it wished to respect the dead, pooling  
slowly around the bike she'd hastily abandoned a few feet away.  
  
In the distance, the keening shriek of sirens began.  
  
  
  
  
Only the tacking of computer keys permeated the early-morning serenity. The air  
carried the enticing aroma of freshly brewed coffee, and memories of Asha's  
shampoo-honeysuckle and roses-hung thick.  
  
Logan reached for the mug beside him and scrolled the page with his free hand.   
Hot liquid carved a burning path to his stomach.   
  
He nudged his slightly askew glances with one finger.  
  
The door exploded open.  
  
At one time, he'd have instantly assumed it was Max who made so flamboyant an  
entrance. But since the breakup, she'd neglected to contact him unless the situation  
desperately called for such a measure. Now only one remained who would barge so  
boldly into his apartment.   
  
The X-5's insistent whistling grated instantly on his nerves.  
  
He'd never been particularly fond of the irritating, egotistic transgenic; but there  
had been tolerance. Now, after learning of Alec's part in Logan and Max's split, his  
feelings had begun to progress with more hostility.  
  
"Hey, Logan."  
  
"Alec." Logan barely turned his head to acknowledge the younger man.  
  
Alec headed into the kitchen, drawn by the tempting fragrance of caffeine.  
  
Apparently he'd failed to notice the less-than-welcoming aura emanating from the  
apartment's owner, but then Logan had come to learn that subtlety was lost upon the  
man.  
  
*Help yourself.* Logan thought wryly, shaking his head.   
  
He turned back to his work, reaching again for his coffee.   
  
"Eyes-Only have a date last night?"  
  
Logan glanced up to find the transgenic lounging against the wall of the kitchen  
entrance, coffee pot in hand, pouring himself a cup.  
  
"Date?"  
  
"Yeah, you know; where two members of the opposite sex-sometimes same sex,  
depends on your preference-get together and play around." He set the coffee pot aside on  
the table. "Logan, pal, I know it's been a while, but if you can't remember what a date is,  
then we've got problems."  
  
"No. No date. Asha just came over last night to help me with some stuff."  
  
"Ah." Alec lifted both eyebrows. His lips formed the trademark smirk Logan had  
come to be accustomed with. "So the fancy pre-Pulse wine I found half-full on the  
countertop must have been to help you guys concentrate on your...computer stuff."  
  
"Alec, nothing-"  
  
"Hey, I'm happy for you. Every man needs to get some every now and then.   
Sexual deprivation's not healthy."  
  
"Asha and I did *not*-"  
  
" 'Course I can't say the same for Max-about bein' happy for you, I mean-because  
I can't exactly see her gettin' all giddy thinking about you doing the nasty with Asha." he  
continued, oblivious to Logan's fervent objection. "In fact, she'll probably rip off your  
leg...the third one, not the prosthetic ones...and beat you over the head with it."  
  
"Max broke up with me. It was her choice." Logan replied quietly, abandoning  
his earlier protest.   
  
Alec shrugged. "Doesn't mean she's not still in love with you." The coffee mug  
ascended to his lips.  
  
*Sure. That's why you spent the night at her apartment. Because she's still in love  
with me.* he thought bitterly.  
  
"Did you need something?" Logan asked. Tension laced his words.  
  
Alec raised an eyebrow. "You're just radiating the warm fuzzies today, Logan.  
Can't I stop by to visit a friend?"  
  
"I'm kind of busy. Got a lot of work to be doing."   
  
"That's ok. I can just watch TV or something."  
  
Is the man really this stupid, or just ignorant of everyone's feelings?  
  
"Alec, I really need to finish this. The TV will distract me, and I need to  
concentrate. If there's something you need, fine. If not, I'd appreciate it if you'd leave."   
The words slipped from between clenched teeth, not without some difficulty on the  
speaker's part.  
  
Another sip parted the X-5's full lips.  
  
"Max is still in love with you. You know that, right Logan?" he asked, and as the  
older man swiveled to face him, Alec looked almost pensive.   
  
"Are you trying to reassure me?"  
  
"Just stating a fact. Do I look like the type of guy who goes around spouting  
feel-good head-shrinker crap to make people feel better?"  
  
The slightest of smiles twitched at Logan's mouth, before he shook his head and  
turned once more to his computer.   
  
Silence drifted over both men; a softly wandering veil of utter stillness. Alec  
finished his coffee and placed the mug on the countertop beside him. "You don't mind if  
I take a peek in your cupboards, do you, Log? Mac and cheese at Joshua's was fine for  
the first week; gets a little tiring after that."  
  
"Help yourself." Logan murmured, engrossed in the machine before him.   
  
The search turned up a package of Oreos; Alec clutched it possessively to his  
chest and strode back into the living room, paused mid-step by the abrupt shrill of his cell  
phone.  
  
He drew it out, and clicked on. "Yeah? Oh, hey Max."  
  
Logan's shoulders tightened automatically.  
  
The transgenic's voice softened. "Max, what's wrong? Why aren't you at  
work?" A pause, to encompass her reply. "You ok? They didn't touch you?" His brow  
rippled into lines of concern.  
  
"What's going on?" Logan demanded.  
  
Alec raised an index finger to him.   
  
"I'll be right there."   
  
He turned, pocketing the phone. "Problems. Some kid, transgenic,got killed by a  
mob. Max saw it on her way to deliver a package. She tried to stop it, but it was too late.   
Kid died a few seconds after she got there. Logan..." Alec paused. "You know how she  
gets. How she feels responsible for all the freaks that escaped Manticore when she  
torched the place. She's going to take this kid's death real hard. Maybe you should-"  
  
"I'll drive you."  
  
  
  
  
She wore the glossy sheen of rainwater thick upon her body. The payphone she'd  
called from still at her back, lending the strength which had deserted her.   
  
Alec leapt from the van before it had coasted to a complete stop.  
  
He came to her without words, shrugging free of his jacket even as he crossed the  
muddy street to her pitiful shelter.   
  
Coarse jean descended on her sagging shoulders; she clutched this offering tight  
around her drenched figure, looking up at him through moist lashes. Full lips trembled  
with heartbreaking severity.  
  
"I'm sorry, Max." Alec whispered, and his voice held such honesty, such as she  
rarely heard from him, that it brought new pain to her torn and bleeding spirit.  
  
"I should have done more to save him. He was just a kid. They killed him. Just  
because he was transgenic." She looked into the distance. "We can't live with them;  
they're never going to understand us. And things like this will keep happening, because  
they're afraid of us. Because we're different." Her throat constricted painfully. "Norms  
don't accept different."  
  
He said nothing.  
  
Her eyes drifted again to his own. "I let us all out in the world. For what? Just to  
have the transgenics murdered by hatred and fear?"  
  
"You set us free, Max."  
  
"Manticore did some pretty shitty stuff; that's why I got my ass the hell out of  
there. But they had their reasons, sick and sadistic as they were. This...this had no  
reason. Just a bunch of damn street thugs who thought beatin' a tranny to death would be  
good for a few laughs."  
  
"Max-"  
  
She interrupted him, now with tears hazing her eyes. "They cut open his  
stomach; his intestines were hanging out all over the street. And his face...I could barely  
see it through all the blood. He probably wasn't even fourteen; didn't even get a chance  
to make his mark in the world." A single droplet of water trembled from dark lashes, and  
slid down her face.  
  
Alec pulled her firmly into his arms.   
  
She acquiesced without resistance, and they held one another beneath the  
tumultuous skies, the scent of blood still thick upon the air. The first seeds of friendship  
and tolerance, planted by her confession of Ben's death, took root.  
  
And from the driver's seat of his van, Logan Cale watched this. Rain lightly  
steamed the windows, casting their figures in an ethereal sort of haze. He swiped a finger  
numbly across cool glass.   
  
Under the slight pressure of his seatbelt, he felt tightness within his chest, and the  
growing heaviness of his heart. 


	3. Hidden Pain

A/N: Thank you so much for all the great reviews! They are really encouraging me. I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter, because I was having trouble with it, but finally decided to just go ahead and post it. I hope this one's ok, too, and again I apologize for any mistakes; I'm the only one checking it over, and I've found that sometimes I'm too close to my own writing to catch all the mistakes, if you know what I mean. Also, I didn't become an avid fan of Dark Angel until partway through season 2, so if you guys catch any mistakes regarding the characters pasts, I apologize. I'm not sure if this story will be Logan/Asha as well as Max/Alec. Probably, but I don't know much about Asha. I'll try to look up some information on her, because she will have a role in this story, regardless of whether or not she ends up with Logan.  
  
Timeline: Sorry, I forgot to add this before; this story takes place after Dawg Day Afternoon.  
  
Disclaimer: Dark Angel does not belong to me. It would be very nice if it did, but like I told you before, I'm very broke, so the possibility of me owning an entire TV show is highly unlikely.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Two  
___________________________________________________________________________  
Hidden Pain  
  
  
  
Logan Cale's Apartment  
Seattle Wa., September 4th, 2021  
  
  
  
Her eyes peered soulfully into his own from the ghostly illumination of the  
computer screen. Hair, dark, silken, tumbled as a sleek waterfall down a softly curved  
body.   
  
He removed his glasses, and set them carefully aside. Machinery hummed all  
around; the soft buzz of his exoskeleton joined the surrounding cacophony of sound. His  
voice rumbled softly in the near silence of the room.  
  
"Do not attempt to adjust your set. This cable hack will last exactly sixty  
seconds. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped, and it is the only free voice left in the  
city."  
  
"Rachel Berrisford, a young woman murdered by the US government. The  
innocent victim of a mission to assassinate her father, carried out by the government  
agency called Manticore."   
  
The nearby TV monitor flashed her image, lingering to give those watching time  
to take in this young woman's beguiling face, and the gentle curve of full lips.   
  
"Warned, by one of these transgenics the city of Seattle so casually condemns, of  
Manticore's plans. Told by the very man sent to kill her father to get out of town.   
Because he'd fallen in love with her, and would risk his own life to preserve her  
happiness. A transgenic, the same breed of those you say have no feelings, no remorse.   
Who you say kill mindlessly, without emotion."  
  
He paused to allow his words to sink in.  
  
"Who are you to say what transgenics are? Who are you to automatically damn  
them to hell because they are different than the rest of us? What do the people of Seattle  
really know of transgenics? Nothing. And yet they jump eagerly to the conclusion that  
the genetically engineered are all cold-blooded killers who don't give a second thought to  
murdering an innocent child."  
  
The picture shifted now to one of the boy murdered only the day before, taken by  
a passing hoverdrone.  
  
"This is the result. Seattle is angry that these 'freaks,' as you term them, have  
escaped into the world. But this anger is taking a turn to the violent; even among those  
that are not swayed by Eyes Only's words, can you honestly claim that this is right?"  
  
The boy's mutilated and misshapen figure brightened again in vibrant detail.  
  
"Are the ones who did this any better than any genetically-engineered soldiers  
running around? Eyes Only thinks not."  
  
"This has been a streaming freedom video. Peace. Out."  
  
  
  
  
Sound penetrated his idyllic escape from reality. Fingers tightened in that  
momentary flash of irritation that surged within his breast; the paintbrush clutched by a  
once loving hand parted with a crack.  
  
The sound increased in volume, tempo, swirling all around him. He felt its  
jarring touch all throughout his body.   
  
"Alec!" Joshua called, frustration thick in his tone. "TV too loud!"  
  
"That's the only way to watch it, buddy!"   
  
The nomalie rose with a slight growl, and paced into the living room. His eyes  
darted across the all-too-familiar scene of his friend seated in an armchair pulled close to  
the precious 'boob tube,' so positioned for 'maximal viewing effect' as Alec had once  
explained.  
  
"Can't concentrate. Trying to paint."  
  
"C'mon, Josh; sit down and watch it with me for once. You paint all the time."   
  
"No. Joshua busy." the larger transgenic said brusquely.  
  
Alec's gaze strayed from the glowing screen before him to the hovering nomalie.   
The severity of the transgenic's deformed features, so unlike Joshua's adolescent, loving  
nature, prompted Alec to seize the remote.  
  
The TV screen faded gradually into black oblivion.  
  
"Why not Alec at work?"  
  
"You tryin' to get rid of me?"  
  
"Want to be alone." Joshua replied tightly. His entire frame tensed, muscles  
undulating beneath loose clothing as a testament to the unleashed power lurking just  
below the surface.  
  
"You don't want me here?" Alec asked carefully, studying his friend closely.  
  
"Joshua want to be alone! Alec not understand?"  
  
"Hey pal, I'm not lookin' to offend you or anything." the X-5 responded, lifting  
both hands, rising slowly. Joshua's chest heaved rapidly; anger boiled within those  
gentle eyes, shadowed darkly now by thick lashes.  
  
The surrounding atmosphere thickened in sync with the nomalie's plunging  
mood.   
  
"Josh, what's going on?"  
  
"Joshua want to be alone! Not want Alec or TV disturbing him!"  
  
"Look, calm down, ok? Max'll have a coronary if I get you all worked up.   
What's buggin' you, Josh? Is it Annie?"  
  
Joshua's nostrils heaved. Sadness pooled deep within that furious gaze, and  
suddenly all fight went out of him. Shoulders sagged beneath a burden not visible to the  
naked eye.  
  
"Want Annie." he whispered.  
  
Alec swallowed hard. "I know Josh. I know you miss her. But it'll get better,  
pal. I promise."   
  
"Want Max."   
  
*Of course. Max. Guess I'm not enough.* Alec thought, and a sudden loneliness  
swelled inside. He had nothing of the camaraderie between Max and Joshua; no one who  
cared for him as she did for the sweetly naive transgenic.  
  
His hand closed gently upon the nomalie's shoulder.  
  
Joshua pulled away, face curtained by tangles of long hair that tumbled over  
features twisted in mourning.   
  
Alec's jaw tightened visibly, this casual dismissal hurting more than he cared to  
admit. He drew languidly back, this movement performed sluggishly, bitterness surging  
to fill the void where pity and sympathy had taken hold.  
  
"Ok. Max. Sure."   
  
Silence from his companion, but gleaming eyes peeked out to display a message  
of gratitude embedded deep within.  
  
Alec smiled faintly, and turned to leave.  
  
His grasp on the emotions churning inside was but a tenuous one, and the startling  
clarity of feelings seldom experienced rankled in the deepest recesses of his soul.  
  
  
  
The sound of his voice automatically raised her head to the TV mounted on the  
far wall.  
  
But this time, his words did not incite the bitter-sweet fondness they so often  
instilled.   
  
Max recognized the young woman immediately. Her eyes widened at the sight of  
this girl's face, such as she hadn't expected to see again; but now it leapt out at her in  
all-too stark detail. Soft lighting polished smooth hair to a burnished chestnut; kind eyes  
brimmed full of life.  
  
She tore her own eyes from the scene to the entrance of Jam Pony Xpress, some  
instinct nagging for her to do so.  
  
He had frozen just inside, ashen-faced and trembling. Stunned hazel eyes  
wondered to her own, and held, for a single moment, before he turned and fled into the  
streets.  
  
  
  
"Why the hell did you do that?"  
  
Logan shrank in face of her anger; she practically radiated hostility, the very air  
alive with her rage.  
  
"What the hell were you thinking, huh? Tell me that!" And her voice darkened  
ominously. "What the *hell* were you thinking?"  
  
"Max, I-"  
  
"Don't say anything, dammit!" she hissed, crossing both arms hard over her  
chest. "He booked the second he saw her face up on the TV! And now he's gone;  
probably jumped off a bridge somewhere or gotten his ass picked up by White!"  
  
The pleasant aroma of cooking pasta vanished into the background, all sensations  
but her wrath retreating with a suddenness that left the surrounding air to swirl blackly  
before her. She paced frantically, removing anything in her path with a swift, vicious  
thrust of one boot, tumbling whatever object happened to thwart her frenzied movement  
across the carpet.  
  
"He's gone and it's your fault! What if White got him?"  
  
"Max calm down. Alec's fine; he knew how to take care of himself. Nothing's  
going to happen."  
  
"Why did you even *consider* using Rachel in one of your cable hacks? Do you  
realize what seeing her face again probably did to him? Or do you even care? It's just  
Alec, right? No big deal. So what if someone decides to kill him just like that boy I tried  
to save?"  
  
"That's not fair." Logan said quietly, eyeing her warily. "I don't want anything  
bad happening to Alec."  
  
"Then why the hell did you do something so stupid?" she spat with exasperation.   
Dammit, Logan! I've looked everywhere for him; he's gone."  
  
"Max, it's all right. We'll keep looking for him. He must be around somewhere.   
He's just upset; needs time to cool off."  
  
"He wouldn't need to cool off if you hadn't run that damn cable hack!"  
  
"Alec is *fine.* I did this for your own good, Max. It wasn't intended to hurt  
Alec."  
  
"For my own good? How the hell is it for my own good, when now I have to go  
chasing all over the city for a distraught X-5? Would you please explain how that could  
be for my own good, 'cause I'm a little confused here!"   
  
"I needed to make a point. The public is going to keep being afraid of  
transgenics, and keep hurting them, unless something is down about it. It was the best  
way I could think of to emphasize the fact that you're not a danger to anyone."  
  
"And you couldn't possibly think of any other way to do that?" Max demanded.   
She pivoted on a heel, and made hastily for the doorway, arms swinging at her sides.   
"You know what? I don't give a damn; I've still got to find him before something  
happens. If you give a shit, maybe you might drive around for a few hours and help me  
out."  
  
The door slammed with a harshness that shuddered the pictures on his walls.  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
Day waned gently into night, blanketing the city in a cloak of darkness that  
descended as the sun disappeared behind far-off hillsides. Few traveled the roads this  
evening but the sporadic police cruiser on the lookout for late-night speeders.  
  
She traversed slick and glistening intersections on her Ninja. Its engine purred  
between her thighs with comforting masculinity, lending some semblance of calm to her  
turbulent thoughts.  
  
He was nowhere to be found; every alley, every pile of rubble she'd happened  
upon had been thoroughly scoured only to turn up nothing each time, driving fear deeper  
in her heart. She felt its grasp tighten her chest, until the simple act of breathing became  
difficult.  
  
She swallowed around the lump crusting her throat, and gunned the bike to its  
limit, whipping around corners with reckless abandon.  
  
*Please, please be all right you asshole.* 


	4. Guilt

A/N: Thank you again for all your reviews; they encourage me a lot, knowing that there are people following my story. This is pretty depressing so far; I didn't mean for it to be, but this is what came out. Not to worry; there will be plenty of Max/Alec banter in following chapters because it's so much fun to write. I'll try to keep posting chapters pretty frequently. Anyway, hope you enjoy! Please R&R.  
  
Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own any of the characters, (though I wish Alec were mine) nor do I own the storyline of Dark Angel or anything else associated with it. They belong to Fox and a bunch of rich people.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Three  
___________________________________________________________  
Guilt  
  
  
Abandoned Ruins  
Seattle Wa., September 4th, 2021  
  
  
*Flashback*  
  
  
Soft, willing lips on his own. Her fingers, warm, tender, traversing the lines of  
his barcode. The brief hint of lavender in the air, before the warmth of her nearness  
shattered, and twisted now into the searing heat of an explosion.   
  
A rising fireball, ascending the sky like the wingtips of a legendary phoenix.  
  
  
*End flashback*  
  
"Rachel!"  
  
Her name parted his lips with an intensity that startled Alec into consciousness.  
  
He rose, panting like a dog overexposed to heat, disoriented in his sudden panic.   
The world rose exotically around him; he surged, frightened, to his feet, the dark rushing  
in to assault him from all sides.  
  
He remembered the screech of tires, White's voice, and their hands, dragging him  
forcefully into the van, stopping him from going to her. His fear, thickening the air,  
White's goons restraining him as he struggled.   
  
Images blurred in a terrifying kladeiscope inside his head; all pictures he'd long  
ago convinced himself to forget, stirred to life now by that brief, vivid glimpse of her  
beautiful face on the TV screen.  
  
Alec swallowed hard.  
  
To his left, a few cars hushed past over rain-slick pavement; the ensuing spray  
dampened the air around him.  
  
He pressed into the shadows, scanning the area.  
  
Light glittered off in the distance; a low-hanging fog had begun to set in with the  
coming of night, and enfolded him from all sides now.  
  
The battered remnants of an office building, destroyed long ago by the Pulse, lie  
scattered amidst the falling mist and shadows. He perused the destruction, taking time to  
gather his thoughts, coaching his breathing back to normal levels.  
  
And now more recent memories began to push their way to the surface; his hasty  
flight from Jam Pony, Max's voice, yelling his name. Rain. Wind. Numbness. The  
agony of pushing his body past its limits. And finally, the sweet release as he sprawled  
breathless to the ground, passing eventually into oblivion.  
  
He wished he had stayed. The loneliness, insecurities, longings. They flooded  
him now, with a savageness that made his head spin.  
  
*I should have died. I'm poison.*  
  
Max herself had said as much.   
  
*"You're poison. I wish I'd never let you out in the world."*  
  
Alec closed his eyes.  
  
*She's right. Berrisford should have just killed me. Would have been doin' the  
world a favor.*  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
She pulled the bike into her final stop for the night, and cut the engine.  
  
Its purr settled reluctantly into silence, abandoning Max to the covetous night.   
She rose lightly to her feet, swinging a leg over the machine, taking a careful,   
probing look around as she stood.  
  
She found her surroundings much the same as they had been for the previous two  
hours; a desecrated pile of rubble comprised of loose sheetrock, tumbled cement blocks,  
and various odds and ends proving human existence before the building had been razed  
to the ground by the big quake of '09.  
  
A noisy breath rattled in her throat; Max felt the telling prickle of nervous  
perspiration hot beneath the sheath of rainwater she carried.  
  
The brief squall had passed, but remnants of its cold and damp still clung to the  
air. Max felt the chill through her leather jacket, but any discomfort was immediately  
done away with by her genetically-engineered body.  
  
She took a cautious step, hands in pockets, senses on alert.  
  
Something in the air gave her pause. A scent lingering just under the sweet tang  
of rain, warm and...alive.  
  
Her heartbeat picked up.  
  
"Alec?" her voice rose tentatively.  
  
Movement stirred among the ruins.   
  
Max broke into a jog.  
  
The clatter of falling pebbles resounded within her sensitive ears, and now the  
scent she'd detected earlier thickened with...fear? Her nostrils curled against this new  
invasion of smell.  
  
Yes, fear. She'd sensed it often enough to recognize it.  
  
Two figures burst from amidst the rubble, wide-eyed and staring, a male and a  
female who'd been engaged in...interesting activities only a moment before, Max  
realized.   
  
They eyed her warily; this woman emanated a hardness, and the leather jacket  
and motorcycle gloves did nothing to suggest a patient grandmotherly-type.  
  
Max, her worry lifted for a moment by amusement, studied these youngsters  
through dark eyes.  
  
She shrugged, and muttered, "Boo."  
  
The teens raced off into the night. She couldn't really blame them; muggings and  
worse had become customary along the outer limits of the city, and with the newfound  
transgenic scare, people were downright spooked.  
  
She took a moment to search the place, just in case, already expecting defeat.   
  
Nothing.  
  
Such a revelation hardly surprised her; he'd gone off to be alone, she was sure,  
and sharing his hiding place with two hormonally-overloaded teenagers wouldn't be high  
on his itinerary of the night.  
  
*Alec, where the hell are you?*  
  
  
  
*The bullet penetrated flesh, its destructive path severing veins, parting bone. His  
dead eyes contemplated the gun barrel for a single moment, the waning brain waves  
having yet to inform his body of the brutal end.  
  
Pain exploded in response to the initial contact; and then blackness descended to  
take him.  
  
Alec welcomed its cold embrace.*  
  
An effective death; one that should have happened a few months earlier, when  
Berrisford confronted him. Effective, but too merciful for a man who'd killed the  
woman he'd loved.   
  
The reindocrination following the failed mission had been painful enough; and  
yet somehow it fell short of the agony brought upon him with that horrific explosion, and  
her final cry.   
  
Alec pictured it again now, the violent scene playing like an action movie on the  
interior of his eyelids.   
  
*Amazing, how just a single picture can bring this all back again.* he thought  
bitterly.  
  
Max's wide, frightened eyes came to him again.   
  
She'd followed him into the streets, even her transgenic speed much too slow to  
catch a man chased by memories of a murdered love. He'd heard her calling his name,  
smelled her scent pursuing him.   
  
But that hadn't stopped him. He couldn't imagine why she'd even bothered to  
come after him; it was only Alec, after all. Unworthy of any concern she might feel  
obligated to give the sorry bastard.  
  
*It's not like Max gives a damn about me. And why should she?*  
  
He sank, miserable and wet, to the ground once more, leaning his back against a  
section of wall standing amidst the surrounding destruction. His throat constricted  
painfully.  
  
*I'm sorry.*  
  
He closed his eyes.  
  
*Sorry Max, sorry Rachel. Sorry to whoever's life is as fucked up as my own.*  
  
A throaty growl from the direction of the nearby street turned his head.  
  
He knew the sound of that engine; Max and her precious baby, on the prowl.   
  
Alec watched bike and rider meld as one with the shadows. Max's dark hair  
whipped as a silken banner behind her, disturbing the peace of the air as it rippled into  
the night.  
  
She passed as quickly as he'd sensed her approach. Alec guessed her speed at a  
hefty 70 mph.  
  
She'd been searching for him.   
  
The realization warmed his heart just the slightest.  
  
  
  
Her heightened awareness warned her of his approach long before he appeared in  
the view of her peripheral vision.  
  
She stood, slowly so as not to disturb her balance, and spun to face him.  
  
"I was looking for you."  
  
He shrugged, face expressionless.  
  
"I was...I was worried." Max continued, voice uncommonly soft. Her gaze  
darted to the metal edge of the Space Needle, and beyond, into open space. The glimmer  
of apartment lights danced within the depths of her eyes. "When you ran out of Jam  
Pony like that-"  
  
"Ever heard of a man needing to use the bathroom, Max?" Alec replied, a touch  
of his smirk in place.  
  
Her eyes darkened. "Stop bullshitting me, dammit! You saw Rachel and  
booked."  
  
Alec looked away.  
  
"I saw the look on your face. And it sure as hell wasn't one of a man who hasn't  
pissed in several hours, so don't go feeding me that shit."  
  
He met her gaze without saying anything.  
  
She took a step toward him, not looking away, studying him intently. The mask  
he wore had been carefully crafted-she had to give him that-but emotions roiled  
tumultuously in his eyes, and that was something he couldn't hide.  
  
"Alec, I didn't know Logan was going to run that cable hack. If I had, I never  
would have-"  
  
"Wasn't your fault. Guy had a reason for it, I'm sure. Doesn't matter anyway."  
  
"It doesn't matter? That's the first thing you thought when you saw her up on the  
TV, huh?" Max crossed her arms.   
  
"Max-"  
  
"Tell me about her, Alec. Please."  
  
He swallowed and glanced away. "I don't want to talk about it."  
  
"But it doesn't matter. I get it; it's no big deal, but you can't even talk about it."  
  
His eyes shone liquidly now as he looked at her. "I killed her. What's to talk  
about? Manticore sent me to assassinate her father, she got in the way, and the rest is  
history." His voice rang bitter.   
  
"It wasn't your fault." she whispered, stepping toward him again.  
  
"Nah. Wasn't my fault, just 'cause I posed as her piano teacher, rigged a bomb  
under her dad's car, then confessed everything to her and sent her right into the trap." he  
said, giving a bitter laugh and shaking his head.  
  
"You tried to save them. Even though Manticore ordered you to kill Berrisford,  
even though you'd spent your entire life doing nothing but following orders. You  
disobeyed because you loved her. That's something even Manticore couldn't control."  
  
"Berrisford should have killed me when he had the chance. I deserved it. He'd  
have just been cleaning the shit from the world, anyway, right Max?" Alec's jaw tensed.  
  
"Why did you come up here, Alec?" she asked, changing the subject abruptly.   
  
"You knew I'd be up here, didn't you?"  
  
He blinked.  
  
"You came here because you were alone, and you didn't want to be anymore."  
  
"That's very philosophical, Max." He shrugged. "Maybe I just like the view."  
  
"You knew I was here. Why did you follow me?"  
  
He smirked, but it didn't reach his eyes this time. "Now you're having fantasies  
about me following you around? Max, I'm flattered. I didn't-"  
  
"Shut up, you bastard." she hissed, closing in on him. The hair at the back of his  
neck quivered to stand at attention, reacting to her nearness. He stiffened. "Tell me why  
you came up here. No bullshit, no stupid, smart-ass comments."  
  
"You want to know Max? You want to know why I came out of hiding?" he  
demanded, looking her full in the eyes now. Both hands slipped into the pockets of his  
jacket, to conceal their trembling.   
  
"Because you were lonely." she whispered, eyes luminous in the darkness. Her  
hand brushed his arm tentatively. "Alec, I'm sorry-"  
  
He shrugged, and pulled away.  
  
"Guess that makes two of us, then."  
  
"Why are you doing this?" Max snapped, angry now. "I'm trying to help you!"  
  
"I don't need your help. Been doin' just fine on my own."  
  
"On your own?" she hissed, her vehemence prompting him to take a step back.   
"Who bails your ass out every time you get in trouble? You'd be dead by now if it  
weren't for me!"  
  
"That's the way it should be."  
  
She stopped, and noticed the tears glittering harshly in his beautiful eyes.   
"What?"  
  
"You heard me. I told you Berrisford should have killed me; hell I would have  
done the same thing, if I were in his position. I murdered his daughter. That's not just  
somethin' you forgive."  
  
He felt wetness on his cheeks, and ducked his head, ashamed for crying in front of  
her.  
  
Max said nothing.  
  
"And you know the last thing she said to me? 'I hate you.' How's that for a  
dysfunctional relationship, huh? Beats whatever shit you and Logan have going on." His  
voice choked on the words, and gurgled uselessly in his throat. A sob heaved his broad  
shoulders. "I didn't mean for her to die, Max."  
  
"I know." Max whispered, her lips trembling as he began to cry, tears hazing her  
own vision.   
  
*He looks so...broken.* she thought, and her chest tightened. *This is Alec. He's  
supposed to be strong...indestructible. He's not supposed to feel pain.*  
  
"I'm sorry." she whispered again, at a loss for comforting words.  
  
He leaned into her, nestling his face in the crook of her neck, his entire body  
trembling.   
  
She pulled him into her arms, gently stroking the hair of his bowed head.   
  
Above them, the moon cast their embracing figures in effulgent silver light,  
elongating their shadows over the metal dome of the Space Needle.  
  
  
  
Shuffling through the day's mail and signature slips, Normal didn't raise his head  
at the light patter of footsteps.  
  
"We're closed." he called without looking up.  
  
His words failed to deter the late-night visitor. The footsteps rang closer.  
  
"Hey, mister, I said we're closed." Normal repeated, sparing a brief glance for  
the dripping, trench-coated man standing on the other side of the counter. "Come back  
tomorrow. Place opens at 7:00."  
  
"I heard a rumor that you have a Max Guevera in your employment. Is that true?"  
  
Normal snorted. "What's little missy miss done now?"  
  
"Does she work for you?" the man pressed.  
  
"Any information you want you can come to get at 7:00 tomorrow morning. Or  
didn't I make myself clear the first few times? Now get out. I've got a lot of work to be  
doing. Gotta' clean up the messes these delinquents have made. Customers are pissed; I  
got calls to make."  
  
"Your cooperation would be greatly appreciated."  
  
"And I will cooperate-tomorrow at 7:00 when the place opens."  
  
Something clicked in the ensuing silence. Normal looked slowly up, and found  
himself staring down the gleaming barrel of a pistol. 


	5. Dirty Dealings

A/N: I was on a role, and cranked out two chapters in one day, so here's the next one. That probably won't happen too often; only when I'm feeling truly inspired, which hasn't been happening too often lately. Anyway, enjoy! Please R&R.  
  
  
Disclaimer: Still don't own them. Go ahead and sue; you won't get anything.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Four  
___________________________________________________________________________________________  
Dirty Dealings  
  
  
Jam Pony Xpress  
Seattle Wa., September 4th, 2021  
  
  
  
Normal swallowed hard.  
  
He followed the sleek lines of the pistol barrel to the hardened features of his  
attacker, forcing the quivering in his hands to still.  
  
The feral glint in the man's cold, hard eyes thrust a shiver deep inside him.   
  
"No need for violence."  
  
"There won't be." The man smiled without humor. "If you tell me what I want  
to know."  
  
Normal felt nervous perspiration gather at his back, beading just beneath the light  
material of his T-shirt. He raised both hands lethargically into the air, terrified any  
sudden movement might coerce this man into shooting. "Hey, look, whatever she's done,  
I had noth-"  
  
"Max Guevera works here, then."  
  
"Yeah. Yes. Of course. But I swear, I don't know anything about any trouble  
she's in. Girl keeps to herself. This isn't some sort of haven for criminals. Their  
business is their own-I keep out of it."  
  
"Where does she live?"  
  
Normal swallowed again, and reached to wipe the sheen of sweat from his brow.   
"I can't tell you that. The records of all bike messengers are confidential."  
  
The man quirked one eyebrow. The gun barrel wavered just the slightest,  
drawing Normal's attention back to it. "I don't care if the damn records are confidential.   
I need to know where I can find her." His voice darkened.  
  
"What are you, some sort of cop? What's missy miss been doing-dealing drugs?   
Because I told you-I don't know anything about her, or her past. She just works for me,  
delivering packages." Normal's tongue snaked out to wet dry lips. He eyed the man  
warily.  
  
"FBI." The man flashed his badge, and Normal visibly relaxed, lowering both  
hands and craning his neck to read the name; Ames White.  
  
"Well Mr. White, why didn't you say so in the first place, mister? I ain't got any  
qualms about helping the government out. But isn't it against regulation to be waving  
that thing around like a piece of candy?" He jerked his chin to indicate the gun.  
  
White lowered his weapon, tight-lipped. "Good attention-getter." The gun  
disappeared into his trenchcoat. "Show me her records."  
  
"Always knew that lazy degenerate was no good; comes in late, delivers when she  
feels like it. Takes her sweet time doing it, too." Normal chatted conversationally,  
stepping out from behind the counter and taking White into the back room. He crossed to  
a metal filing cabinet against the far wall. "Doesn't surprise me she's mixed up in  
something gone bad. What's she in trouble for? Drugs, prostitution?"  
  
"It's classified." White replied, crossing both arms over his chest. He watched  
over the shorter man's shoulder as Normal rifled through several manila folders.  
  
*Alec McDowell. Sounds familiar...494.* White realized, and his lips curled in an  
involuntary snarl. *That fuckin' transgenic boyfriend of 452's.* He blurred to snatch  
Normal's hand as the head of Jam Pony Xpress extracted an envelope. Normal turned,  
open-mouthed in preparation to say something, eyes widening behind his glasses.  
  
"What the-"  
  
"You've been a lot of help." White said, with a chilly smile, and knocked the  
man out cold with a hard fist to the side of the head. He snatched up Max's record before  
it hit the ground and scattered papers all about, then seized Alec's. *Two transgenic scum  
in one. My lucky day.*  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
The wood punctured and buckled inward beneath the force of his blow.  
  
They surged inside, guns drawn, ebony ballistics gear blending with the shadows.   
Boots trod with little noise against the threadbare carpet, but the explosion of the door  
from its hinges had destroyed any chance of entering stealthily.  
  
Moonlight fell thick upon them; silence followed the brief, violent splinter of  
wood.   
  
White preceded them, overturning furniture, destroying anything that stood in his  
way, plunging the bedroom door free with another powerful kick.  
  
Nothing.  
  
He turned with a snarl to his men. "She's not here."  
  
  
  
  
Max awoke languidly to the length of a warm, muscular body pressed all along her.   
  
She stiffened, confused for a moment, her arms automatically tightening around  
the man cradled in her lap. He stirred and moaned lightly, nuzzling his face into her  
neck, his breath warming cold flesh.  
  
His lips curved in a faint smile, and the sight touched her as she reached to trace  
the fading remnants of tear stains.  
  
She felt the heat of his body through her jeans, and snaking its way through the  
zippered front of her leather jacket. It brought a shiver down her spine, one she tried to  
ignore.  
  
Time slowed; she felt its passage moving sluggishly around her as his soft lips  
parted in another heartbreaking little moan. She smoothed the slight pucker of his  
eyebrows with one finger, swallowing against the sudden lump in her throat.   
  
His mouth touched the finger in a light kiss as it traversed the slope of his  
forehead to the curve of his cheekbone, a kiss rendered in sleep, the motion bringing  
tears to Max's eyes for some reason. The move had been so...tender, and his face bore a  
startling, almost beguiling resemblance to a little boy's, relaxed as it was in serene lines.  
  
He looked so much like Ben...only when he opened his eyes would she see the  
true difference between their faces; the mischievous sparkle Alec's held, a sparkle that  
had never been present in Ben's, even after they'd escaped Manticore. A vulnerability  
emanated from Alec as he slept, a vulnerability he tried so desperately to hide during the  
day.   
  
"Guess you're not such a bad guy after all." Max whispered, stroking his cheek  
with a thumb. "Hell, you're an irritating asshole, a womanizer, selfish and extremely  
good at pissing me off, but I suppose you have your moments." She smiled gently,  
studying the planes of his face as her palm cupped his cheek gently.  
  
His face, peaceful a moment before, erupted in a smirk. "Gee, Max, what a nice  
compliment. You sure know how to make a guy feel special." Alec murmured without  
opening his eyes.  
  
She jerked, startled.  
  
He cracked an eye at her, the smirk blossoming into a shit-eating grin. "Mornin',  
Maxie. Sleep good?"   
  
"Have you been awake this whole time?" she demanded, feeling heat in her  
cheeks.  
  
He shrugged without moving his head from her shoulder. "Pretty much." The  
infuriating grin returned. "I didn't realize you felt so strongly about me."  
  
She resisted the urge to smack him, full lips turning down in a scowl. "You could  
have warned me!"  
  
"And ruin the moment?" he asked innocently, shamelessly snuggling closer,  
turning his face into the cool leather of her jacket.   
  
The urge became too great. Her hand caught him upside the back of the head,  
embarrassment fueling the fire smoldering in her eyes. The blow drove a ringing loose in  
his ears.  
  
Alec tilted his head up to look her in the face, giving an exaggerated grimace of  
pain. "Ow! Jesus, Max, what was that for?"  
  
"Get off me." she said, pushing at him with both hands.  
  
He curved an arm over her shoulders, and buried his face in the crook of her neck,  
the heat of his body burning all throughout her, and the feel of his lips on her throat too  
vivid for Max's preference.   
  
*Damn genetically enhanced genes.*   
  
She shoved him again.   
  
"C'mon Maxie; I thought you'd decided I was an ok guy."  
  
"I said you have your moments. Doesn't mean I think you're a fuckin' saint or  
something."   
  
He smiled.  
  
She glared and gave one final furious push that sprawled him off her legs and to  
the cold metal of the Space Needle. The rounded dome clanged in protest at this sudden  
shift of weight. "Stop looking at me like that!"  
  
"You like me, Max. Admit it."   
  
"I do not!" she snapped, scrambling to her feet. "I'd just as soon push your fat  
ass over the side."  
  
"Fat?" His eyebrows rose. "Fat ass, Max? I'll tell you one thing-if my ass is  
anything, it's definitely not fat. You can have a feel if you like-you won't hear me  
complaining."  
  
Max made a face. "No thanks."  
  
"I think that was the plan all along, wasn't it, Max? You told Logan to run the  
cable hack so you could chase after me and comfort me, and then you schemed for me to  
overhear you saying good things about me so that you could pretend to get all flustered  
and pissed off, eventually leading up to calling my ass fat. You knew I'd want to prove  
you wrong, which would give you an excuse to cop a feel without letting on to the fact  
that you're hot for my body."  
  
"That's the most twisted and perverted logic I've ever heard. You're a raving  
egomaniac wi-"  
  
Alec smirked. "You don't have to resort to name-calling, Max. If you'd just  
admit the truth-"  
  
"Shut up! Just shut up! All you ever do is talk; and it's not even intelligent  
talking! It's just yapping!" she yelled, clenching and unclenching both fists. "I started  
to think you might be halfway decent, and then you resort back to your stupid smart ass  
remarks."   
  
He shrugged. "Part of my charm."  
  
"Charm my ass." she snorted.  
  
"Well at least you're not talking about my ass this time. Do you realize how  
much you talk about that part of my anatomy, Max? 'I'm going to kick your ass Alec.'   
'Get your ass the hell out of my way, Alec.'" he mocked her in a whiny, high-pitched  
voice. "You seem to have some sort of obsession with that part of my body. I know it's  
incredible, but-"  
  
Max let out a strangled scream, and just barely checked herself from leaping at  
him.  
  
He stepped hastily back, seeming to realize he'd started to truly irritate her, and a  
bit worried about what part of his anatomy would be the first to go when she charged.  
  
Alec raised both hands; a peace offering. "Just playin', Max. No need to blow a  
fuse."  
  
She opened her mouth to say something, shook her head, and spun on a heel. Her  
footsteps resounded loudly into the rising dawn.  
  
Alec watched her go, pocketing both hands, his cocky veneer evaporating with  
her abrupt exit.  
  
"Max." he called.  
  
She froze, but didn't turn.  
  
He swallowed. "Thanks." The word emerged as a whisper, but the gentle breeze  
carried it easily to her sensitive ears.  
  
Max turned to face him, all anger gone. Her lips curved in the slightest of smiles,  
and he felt his own mirroring the motion. "Your welcome." she whispered back, and  
left him.  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
"So I'm a little behind in the sex department, but I figure the average guy must  
get laid maybe once a month, unless he's married or in a serious relationship. Am I right,  
Sketchy my man?"  
  
Sketchy, the aftermath of last night's trip to Crash yet to wear completely off,  
stumbled slightly beneath the support of Alec's arm. He nodded a shaggy head, having  
yet to emerge from his nonverbal state.  
  
"I mean, it's been about three weeks since I got some. Not bad, considering I've  
been a total machine for the past year; and it's not like I haven't gotten any the last few  
weeks because I couldn't." He shrugged. "Just had other things to do."  
  
Alec opened the door to Jam Pony for his intoxicated friend, alert for Normal's  
usual call of 'Bip, bip, bip you lazy degenerates. I don't pay you delinquents to sit  
around on your asses.'  
  
The place rang eerily quiet.  
  
He sensed something wrong the moment he entered, and ducked instinctively  
behind a row of lockers to assess the situation.  
  
Jam Pony crawled with Sector Police.  
  
*What the hell?*  
  
Everyone moved about quietly, minus the usual friendly-sometimes  
not-so-friendly-chatter, their motion stilted and mechanical as they kept wary eyes on the  
patrolling cops.  
  
A hand fell heavy on his shoulder.  
  
He spun, and blurred to meet the raised fist, slamming his assailant against the  
lockers at his back. Flesh merged with metal in a sickening thwap, and a gasp of pain.  
  
Alec found himself peering into Original Cindy's brown eyes, darkened in pain,  
her lips forming a muttered curse.  
  
"Sorry, OC. Thought you were someone else." he said, and released her,  
stepping back.  
  
"Who the hell did yo' think I was?" she demanded, glaring at him as she reached  
to massage the pain flowering in her lower back. "Damn boy; little on edge there."  
  
"What the hell is goin' on?" he asked, dropping to sit tensely on the bench at his  
feet. "What the hell is all this?"  
  
"Search me. Them sector boys stormed the place 'bout an hour ago, yellin' that  
nobody leaves until they give the word. Normal damn near looked like he was 'bout to  
piss his pants." She looked slightly amused at that prospect, then her face tightened in  
concern. "You see our girl?"  
  
"Max? She should be here pretty soon."  
  
"There's trouble for my boo. Got home late last night, and found the apartment  
broke into. Door smashed, furniture broken, the works. Someone was awful damn  
pissed our chile' wasn't there to give them a welcoming."  
  
Alec's blood ran cold. "Shit."  
  
"They were checkin' people's ID's just a few minutes 'fore you walked in. Head  
guy called 'em up 'bout a minute ago, and they been talkin' whatever shit them cops talk  
'bout. Original Cindy ain't sure what the hell this shit is about, but she has an idea they  
ain't gonna' roll out the red carpet for her boo." She exchanged a worried glance with  
Alec.  
  
"We gotta' find some way to warn Max. I'd bet anything White's behind this."   
he said grimly, taking a peek toward the black-clothed figures milling near the front.  
  
Original Cindy touched his arm, prompting his eyes in her direction. "You ain't  
gonna' do somethin' stupid and get yo' fool ass killed, are yo'? Boo wouldn't forgive me  
for lettin' yo' get yo' stupid ass shot up."  
  
"Nah, OC. It's me."  
  
She frowned. "That's what I'm worried 'bout; yo' always gettin' yo' transgenic  
ass in a sling my boo has to bust yo' outta'."  
  
A sudden flurry of movement diverted their attention to the front desk. The click  
of hammers, the rasp of flesh on triggers; these sounds played torturously slow inside  
Alec's head, magnified by the absolute quiet of Jam Pony and his own enhanced sense of  
hearing.  
  
A dark head appeared in the doorway of Jam Pony.  
  
"Max!" Alec screamed.  
  
He surged into the air, clearing the lockers separating them in a single bound.   
Muscles undulated with the power of the jump, tensing beneath his jeans as genetically  
enhanced strength thrust him hard into her side, tumbling them both to the floor.  
  
"Shoot to stun, not to kill!" White screamed at the same moment, and Jam Pony  
erupted in gunfire. 


	6. Broken Time

A/N: Originally this chapter would have been out sooner, but I redid it because I didn't like the way the story was going. There was originally a big scene at Jam Pony, but I decided that to chuck that because I really didn't like it. There's not much action in this chapter; just conversation, and plenty of Max/Alec interaction, of course. Hope you enjoy. Feedback appreciated. Please R&R! Also, I finally have a title. Yay! Go me!  
  
  
Disclaimer: To my utter disappointment, I found out just the other day that Dark Angel does not belong to me. It's owned by James Cameron, Fox, and rich people whose names I don't happen to know. That's fine, as long as they give me Alec.  
  
  
The title is from 3 Doors Down's sophomore album, Away From the Sun. It seemed to fit.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Five  
_________________________________________________________________________________________  
Broken Time  
  
  
Jam Pony Xpress  
Seattle, Wa., September 5th, 2021  
  
  
Screams penetrated the fog of pain that descended to embrace him, twining as  
one in terrible song. Their savageness ripped at his sensitive eardrums, awakening a dire  
urge to reach and cover his ears.   
  
His body arched, spasmed, and released with the impact of flying lead, an  
involuntary gasp forcing aside full lips. Agony surged within, flaring white-hot in the  
desperate cording of muscles used to hold down her squirming body.   
  
The world flowered to blackness before him; the acidic burn of bile seared his  
throat, and Alec felt himself drifting into oblivion.  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
Her face blurred into incongruous lines before him, partly eclipsed by heavy  
lashes. He blinked, trying to bring her into focus, and felt his stomach shift with a  
violence that drove his eyes shut once more.  
  
Soft hands descended to his hair, stroking aside strands grown sodden with  
perspiration. He moaned and turned his face into the presence of gentle fingers, sensing  
something familiar about this person's touch.  
  
"Hey." The voice exploded in a blinding swordthrust of pain inside his temple.   
"Alec, can you hear me?"  
  
*For Christ's sake, who can't? You could wake the dead with that foghorn of  
yours.* he thought wryly, cracking an eyelid at the dark-haired visage before him.   
  
"Alec?"  
  
*Jesus! Stop talking so loud, would you? Show a little respect for the mortally  
wounded.*  
  
His tongue flicked out to traverse dry and cracked lips. He shifted against the  
curve of a soft bed beneath his worn and battered body, the move thrusting pain all  
throughout him.   
  
"He's lost quite a bit of blood."  
  
*Bullets will do that to you, Logan.*  
  
"He'll be fine." Max whispered. "He always is."  
  
Something jabbed Alec forcefully in the side, exploding him fully into the realm  
of consciousness.  
  
"Ow! Easy there, Max!"  
  
She shrugged, looking across the bed to Logan. "Told ya'."  
  
He glared at his visitors, struggling into sitting position amongst a sweaty tangle  
of bedraggled sheets. The blanket tossed carefully over him slithered from his muscular  
body, pooling in his lap and baring his naked chest to cool air.  
  
Another form stepped into view, shimmering uncertainly within the ripple and  
undulation of shadows passing over his blurry eyes.  
  
"How Alec feeling?" Joshua asked timidly, eyes luminous in their fright.   
  
"Like Max just kicked me in the balls, chucked me out in the road, ran over my  
head with her bike, then backed up over it again. How you feelin', Josh?"  
  
"Joshua scared. Thought medium fella' going to die."  
  
Alec shrugged, and the nonchalant move pulled the wound gaping in his shoulder.   
He squeezed both eyes shut and cursed beneath his breath, his chest constricting  
painfully.   
  
"Don't move too much. You'll rip open my fancy bandages." Max scolded, her  
tone lacking its usual scorn. The bed sagged beneath her weight as she lowered herself  
carefully beside him. He felt the soft brush of her fingers, and suddenly warmth  
penetrated his shivering body to the very core. "Looks like it's about time to change the  
dressing again."  
  
Logan cleared his throat, drawing both transgenic's attention. "Well...I should be  
going. I'll be back later. Glad to see you're awake, Alec." His smile looked a bit forced.   
  
Max averted her gaze, nodding tensely. "Bye."  
  
"Come on, Joshua. I want to talk to you for a minute." And now his eyes settled  
on Max, begging her to look at him, his meaningful stare conveying more than words  
could. *This is what you want, isn't it? To be alone with your precious injured?*   
  
But she'd already turned her attention to tending Alec's wound, presenting Logan  
with an unobstructed view of her back.  
  
"Joshua happy Alec better." the nomalie rumbled.  
  
The door clicked softly shut.  
  
"Well, it's nice to know I've got a concerned fan following." Alec said. "I see  
you couldn't wait to get my shirt off."  
  
She glared at him. "I could've let you bleed to death."  
  
"Nah, you couldn't do that, Max. That would devastate the entire female  
population of Seattle."  
  
She rolled her eyes, working with gentle fingers to unwrap his shoulder. He  
leaned without thought into her slender form, sagging limply against the blinding  
onslaught of pain that came with the soft probing of her fingers. "How many times was I  
shot?" he asked quietly.  
  
"Three. One in the shoulder, another in your right leg, and one that skimmed the  
side of your head. You were lucky; the bullet just brushed you. Could've killed you."   
  
"How the hell did I get here? I mean, one minute, I'm hurling myself through the  
air at you with White and his lackey's shootin' to beat hell, and the next thing I know I'm  
waking up in my bed at Josh's."  
  
"Logan." She finished unraveling the gauze, his shoulder glistening beneath in a  
fresh sheen of crimson. "They were doing a story on the news about 'a transgenic rogue'  
being arrested at Jam Pony, and he saw it. Figured White had something to do with it  
and-"  
  
"And let me guess; came toodling to the rescue in that old boat he calls an  
automobile. Playin' the part of the knight in shining armor."   
  
Max scowled. "He saved our asses, you know."  
  
Alec sighed. "Well, Max, much as I know you like to believe good ol' 'Eyes  
Only' has some sort of superhuman powers, there's no way he could have held off White  
and his goons long enough to get us out of there. He's only one man."  
  
"I was getting to that-until you interrupted me. Maybe if you'd keep your big yap  
shut-"  
  
"You see? I'm lyin' here, bleeding to a slow and painful death, and you're still  
yellin' at me. What kind of person busts the chops of an injured man? Don't you have  
any conscience?"  
  
"I wouldn't be yelling if you'd learn when to shut up."   
  
"I want a new nurse. One who can *appreciate* a fine specimen such as mysel-"  
  
"Any*way*," she continued, with a glare for emphasis, "Logan showed up, tossed a  
couple of smoke bombs into the whole mess, and we hauled your unconscious ass into  
his van. That was three days ago."  
  
"What about...Wait a minute. Did you say three days?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Three days? I've been sleepin' for three *days*?"  
  
"Off and on. This is the first time you've regained consciousness for so long.   
You drifted in and out, mostly. Talked a little, but it wasn't anything we could make any  
sense of."   
  
"So what'd I say?" he asked, watching her dress his shoulder.  
  
"Nothing much. Just gibberish."  
  
"Hey, I do *not* gibbe-"  
  
"Hold still. This is going to hurt." A hard tug at his shoulder exploded white  
stars before his vision. He fell back against the head rest, panting heavily.  
  
"Holy shit! You could have warned me!"  
  
"I did."  
  
"What the hell did I ever do to you?"  
  
"The gauze was stuck to your skin with dry blood. What did you want me to  
do-leave it there to rot?" she demanded testily.  
  
"Well you didn't have to pull so damn hard!" he griped. His voice sounded  
strained and weak even to his own ears. "I risked life and limb to save your ass from  
White, and this is the thanks I get?"  
  
"I know." she whispered.  
  
"I mean, c'mon, Max, the least you could do is-" He paused, jaw unhinging.   
"You know? What do you mean you know? You're not actually...agreeing with me, are  
you?"  
  
"I know you saved my ass. I probably wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for  
you. Hell, not probably. I wouldn't be here." She raised her chin, and their gazes joined.   
"Guess I owe you one now."  
  
He blinked, surprised. "You...owe me one. Huh. Now there's a change."  
  
Her fingers trailed the side of his head, sifting the fine hairs, tousled and matted  
now with coagulated blood.  
  
He swallowed hard. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Checking your head."  
  
"Oh." he replied, a bit thrown off at her closeness. She radiated warmth, and the  
clean, enticing scent of lavender. His nostrils flared against this new, tantalizing invasion  
of smell. "So, if I saved you, don't I get a prize or somethin'?"  
  
"Sure-the prize of knowing that you've saved the world from being deprived of my  
wonderful presence." Max responded lightly, full lips curving in a smirk.   
  
He grinned, surprised at this decidedly Alec-like reply that had just slipped from  
her lips. "Nah. I was thinkin' more like a...kiss or somethin'."   
  
Max snorted, and drew back. "You wish. Just 'cause I'm pretending we're  
together doesn't mean-" She snapped her mouth abruptly shut. *Oops.*  
  
"What did you just say?" he asked, brow furrowing.  
  
"Nothing. Just forget about it."  
  
"No. You said somethin' about pretending we're together. What the hell did that  
mean?"  
  
"I said it was nothing. Forget it." Her eyes glittered darkly, and she jerked now  
from his hand as it crept up her arm.   
  
He clamped down hard with his fingers as she tried to rise, using the element of  
surprise to yank her back to the bed.  
  
"Hey!"   
  
"What's this about us being together, Max? Because unless I missed something  
important in the last few days, my understanding was that our relationship was at best a  
typical case of domestic violence."  
  
"Let go!" she hissed through her teeth.  
  
"Not until you tell me what the hell is going on. Does this have somethin' to do  
with the fact that Logan was trying to inject death rays into my head when I stopped by  
his apartment the other day? Because he's had some sort of mental lapse and fallen  
under the impression that we're a couple?"  
  
"Fine. A few weeks ago, when you were arrested, and I busted you out, you spent  
the night at my apartment, just to lay low while the cops looked for you."  
  
He lifted both eyebrows. "Following you so far, Max."  
  
"Logan saw you leaving the next morning, and automatically assumed that we..."   
She trailed off, gesturing with her hands.  
  
"Engaged in a night of wild sex?" he supplied helpfully.  
  
Max scowled. "I suppose. Anyway, I went over to his apartment that night with  
some information on White's breeding cult, thinking he wasn't there. He'd left the lights  
out on purpose, so he could confront me. Wanted to know if we were together. And  
I...didn't give him reason to think we weren't."  
  
"So let me get this straight; you told Logan that we're a couple?" Confusion  
thickly laced Alec's words.  
  
"Not exactly. I just didn't deny it. Alec, please, don't say anything to him. I  
can't be with him, not now." she pleaded, turning large doe eyes on him. "It's too  
dangerous. But he'll convince me, somehow, that it's ok for us to be together. I needed  
someway to push him away, and this was the easiest way. He'll leave me alone, get over  
me and find someone else now. He'll give up if he thinks I belong to someone else. It's  
the best way."  
  
He dropped her arm, and reached to rub away the ache throbbing just behind his  
eyes despite the fresh tears of pain this move brought to his eyes. "Always the bad guy  
with you, huh, Max? Logan's too pure and good to steal another man's girl, but a jerk  
like Alec wouldn't hesitate to do that. Am I right?"  
  
"Don't get all damn self-righteous on me! You sleep with a different girl every  
night, for God's sake." she snapped, the carmel pallor of her flesh brightening to scarlet  
beneath this wave of anger.  
  
He sighed heavily. Her eyes caught the slight cording of several muscles beneath  
the firm flesh of his strong jaw. "Fine, Max. I'll protect your little secret. You do  
realize this will ruin my reputation, though, right? Me turnin' a one-woman man."  
  
"Look, your precious 'reputation' will be just fine. Just play along when Logan's  
around, ok? Just do that for me. I think you owe me that much."  
  
"Does this mean I get certain...privileges whenever Logan's around?" He  
smirked.  
  
"No! Just...act like you like me."  
  
"Takes two to tango Max. Or whatever it is that Logan thinks we were doing in  
your apartment. You're gonna' have to put some effort into this too, not just me. He's  
not gonna' buy it if you're smackin' me around just like usual."  
  
"Fine. So I'll pretend to like you. I should be able to manage that for..oh,  
say...about five minutes before I start hypergagging." Max thrust both hands to her hips,  
heat simmering within her gaze.  
  
"You won't last two minutes without jumpin' me."  
  
"I'm not *that* desperate to prove our...togetherness." The word rolled bitter on her  
tongue.  
  
"Well, you've already been goin' around sayin' we had sex." he pointed out,  
grinning cheekily.  
  
"I have *not*! It's not my fault if Logan assumed things."  
  
"Yeah, but you didn't exactly help him *un*assume that we weren't getting down  
and dirty."  
  
"Get some sleep, asshole. I'll be back in a while with some food." she said,  
terminating the conversation just like that, pivoting on a heel to reach for the doorknob.  
  
"So, Max, any chance of bringing your lover's precious boob tube into his room?   
The sex must have been incredible-though for some reason I don't remember it-and it  
would go a long way toward persuadin' me to come back for seconds if you brought the  
TV in here."  
  
She slammed the door with a severity he felt in the very depths of his bones.  
  
*Damn.* 


	7. Pleasant Dreams

Chapter Six  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
Pleasant Dreams  
  
  
  
  
Joshua's  
Seattle, Wa., September 9th, 2021  
  
  
  
Curling steam, and the heady, tantalizing scent of warm, damp flesh embraced his  
figure with an abruptness that set Alec's head to spinning. He blinked aside clinging  
moisture, and the mists parted around his body, revealing a lithe, slender figure behind  
the frosted glass partitions of the shower.  
  
The shaded form of her body arched softly beneath the overhead stream of water,  
liquid beading and flowing voluptuously over each curve.  
  
He swallowed hard, and felt the air plunge from his lungs in a single, breathy  
exhale.  
  
*Holy shit.*  
  
He tracked the ascent of her hands to long sable hair with wide eyes, dark in their  
desire, hazel clouding to emerald. *Holy shit.* he thought again, and found himself unable  
to look away. A drifting haze of rose-scented condensation settled across his frozen  
body.   
  
And now the shower doors parted with agonizing lethargy, and her head thrust  
into the steamy confines of the bathroom, full lips bowed in an inviting smile. A finger  
hovered coyly before her naked body, and beckoned him to her with an agile flick of the  
wrist. Her body glistened in a sheen of moisture, concealing nothing as beads of liquid  
slithered sumptuously over glossy caramel flesh.  
  
"Come here, big boy."  
  
He ripped his shirt free of a hard-muscled torso with an urgency rivaling that of a  
man fleeing pursuing bullets.  
  
"Umm, Max..." His voice erupted in a husky purr.  
  
"What?"   
  
He jerked fully into wake, the last remnants of sleep slipping quietly into oblivion  
as his eyes snapped open to her startled face.  
  
*Did I just say that aloud?*  
  
Her eyebrows arched, the flesh of her brow rippling in a thousand tiny wrinkles of  
confusion. "What did you say?"  
  
"Uh...nothing." he said, averting his eyes as his hands fumbled for the twisted  
knot of blankets lurking at his ankles. "Nothing at all. Just mumblin' in my sleep."  
  
"You said my name."  
  
"No I didn't."  
  
"Yes, you did."  
  
"No, I didn't. What reason would I have for screamin' out your name in sleep?"   
he asked, jerking the covers over his lap. *I can think of a few...*  
  
"You didn't scream it. It was more like a...moan."  
  
*For Christ's sake, woman, you'd have been moanin' too if some incredibly hot  
member of the opposite sex was standing naked in the shower right in front of you and  
invitin' you to share the goods.*  
  
"Maxie, Maxie, I think your fantasies are startin' to cross over into reality. Now  
far be it for me to deny a woman her heart's desire, so if you're dreamin' about makin'  
me moan, go ahead and go for trying it-no complaints here."  
  
She scowled. "Pig."  
  
"What are you doing in here anyway?"   
  
"Well I'm certainly not here for the intelligent conversation." she remarked,  
smirking.  
  
"That hurts, Max. Right here." He thrust a hand dramatically to his chest,  
keeling back against the pillows as he did so. The abrupt gesture pulled the wound in his  
shoulder, thrusting tendrils of pain all throughout him. He fell gasping against the  
headboard.  
  
"Be careful, you ass." she scolded, crossing the room to his side.  
  
"I'm fine." Alec panted, plunging a hand out to halt the fingers that reached for  
him. "It's just a little sore."  
  
"You're not fine. Being a transgenic doesn't make you some sort of fucking  
superhero. You still need time to heal, and if you're flopping around like some dead fish,  
it's going to take longer."  
  
She checked his dressing, the soft pinpricks of her fingertips lighting a fire deep  
within him. He pulled back the moment her grip loosened, a bit disturbed at this effect  
she was having on him.  
  
"Should be ok for another couple a' hours. Just don't go trying to do handstands  
or something."   
  
Her gaze flickered over his pallid features, coming to rest on the beautiful glint of  
those soft hazel eyes. She sensed something within the swirling mists of verdant, an  
unnamed emotion that wavered insecurely, until he blinked, and it disappeared.  
  
He watched her throat constrict in a hard swallow, and now, studying her face, he  
glimpsed the unexpected haze of moisture glittering over mahogany orbs.  
  
"Max?" he queried uncertainly.  
  
She blinked and looked away.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Nothing." she said quickly.  
  
"Sure. Nothing." He shrugged. "Sure seems like nothing."  
  
"It's just..." She paused a moment, and drew breath. "I think it's time for me to  
leave Seattle. Make a start somewhere else."  
  
He was silent a moment.  
  
"Leave Seattle."  
  
"Yeah. I've been thinking about it...and this last time at Jam Pony...it was just  
too close a call. White knows where I work, he knows where I live. OC stopped by  
yesterday, while you were sleeping, and told me about our trashed apartment. If she'd  
been there...White would have hurt her. To get to me. I'm putting the people around me  
in danger."  
  
"Max, there are people here who need you."  
  
*Like me.* he added silently, surprised at the vehemence in that thought.  
  
"It's going to be hard, leaving Seattle, leaving all my friends...my whole life."   
Her eyes grew liquid as she spoke. "But I've done it before."  
  
"Max, any one of your friends would be willin' to risk their life for you. The  
norms all know there's a risk in bein' associated with our kind. They're takin' that risk  
for you, because you're their friend."  
  
"I know. But I'm not willing for them to take that risk. I don't want them getting  
hurt because of me. So it'd just be better if I packed up and moved on."  
  
"White's just gonna' follow you. No matter where you go, Max, that man will  
always be after you. He won't stop until he's dead, or until you are."  
  
"I know, Alec. But at least this way, it would get the rest of you out of danger. I  
just can't deal with this shit anymore; wondering if I'm going to accidentally kill Logan  
one day, if White will get ahold of OC, or maybe Sketchy, and torture their asses until  
they tell him where I am. And the media's having a field day with this; starting all these  
stories about the 'transgenic rogue' wanted for arrest. People are gonna' turn me in.   
They know I'm transgenic."  
  
He shrugged. "So we'll work around it. The police don't want you. White does.   
The arrest was just a cover-up for the news anchors to have somethin' to play with."   
Alec sighed. "And what about Joshua?" he asked quietly. "You think the big guy's just  
goin' to let you leave? Max, you're everything to him. First Annie, and then you...he'd  
never be able to take that."  
  
Her voice dipped and quivered now as she spoke, and the heartbreaking slump to  
her shoulders tore at his chest. "It's just...Alec, I can't. It's not safe, for anyone, for me  
to stay in Seattle." A single trail of wetness twined the length of her face. "I'm not  
doing this to-"  
  
"Come here." he said softly.  
  
She looked over to him, eyes luminous in the frail lighting. "What?"  
  
"Come here." he said again, and held open the covers as she approached  
cautiously.  
  
She dropped tentatively to the edge of the bed, and he snugged an arm around her  
slender waist, pulling her to his side despite the grief it caused his shoulder. She tensed  
against him for a moment, and the blankets tumbled to lie still across their entwined legs.   
  
Alec tugged her against the hardness of his bare chest, and the tension eased  
reluctantly from taut muscles, until she settled her head beneath his chin. His hand  
trailed the curve of her back, to the sleek waterfall of hair.   
  
"Think about this, Max." he whispered, nestling his lips within the thick strands  
of her locks. "You'll find another apartment, another job. You don't need to leave  
Seattle." *I don't want you to leave.* "Granted, it would be a lot less detrimental to my  
health if you left, but..." he trailed off before he could confess things he didn't want her  
to know.  
  
She laughed softly into him. "Probably. You wouldn't have some bitch around  
always hounding your ass and smacking you around."  
  
He caressed the top of her head with light, feathery strokes of one hand. "Now  
why am I tryin' to persuade you to stay again?"  
  
She tilted her face to look up at him, glaring in mock anger. "Shut up." Her head  
slanted once more to his chest.  
  
The gentle, soothing pressure of his hand soon lulled Max to sleep, and not long  
after, Alec joined her. Their bodies relaxed as one in peaceful slumber, limbs tangled  
with a lazy serenity that curved both sets of lips in unbidden smiles.  
  
  
  
"Brought some information for Eyes-Only."   
  
Logan spun from the glow of his computer monitor to her soft smile, his nostrils  
inhaling the enticing scent of her perfume as he stretched one hand out for the folder she  
clutched. He offered a somewhat strained smile.  
  
"Thanks. He'll appreciate this."  
  
She drew her coat free of narrow shoulders, and draped it lightly over the back of  
his immaculate couch.  
  
His fingers resumed their intricate dance across the keyboard.  
  
"So how's Alec doing?" The Jam Pony incident had been all over the news these past few days.  
  
Logan shrugged. "As well as can be expected. With Max to...look after him,  
he'll be better in no time."  
  
"You're jealous."  
  
His head whipped around to her. "What?"  
  
"You're jealous." She crossed both arms over her chest, easing back against the  
couch. "It's obvious."  
  
"You mean I'm jealous that Max gets to take care of Alec? I thought your  
women's intuition was better than that, Asha."  
  
She snorted lightly, rolling her eyes. "Don't give me that, Logan. You know  
what I'm talking about. You're jealous that Max is pushing you away and turning to  
Alec. Because you've always tried so hard to make sure that she knows you understand  
her, and that you don't care that she's different."  
  
He sighed tiredly, removing his glasses to rub at fatigued eyes. "I've accepted  
that Max has moved on. Guess I couldn't expect her to wait for me forever, when we  
can't even touch." The words resonated deep within his chest, sending a pang of  
loneliness through his heart. "I just never expected her to move on to...him."  
  
"I think she needs to be with her own kind right now, with all that's been going  
on. No matter how much you respect her, and overlook the fact that she was  
manufactured in a test tube, there's still that bridge between you. Because the truth is, no  
matter how much you say you 'understand' Max, you can't. Not really. But Alec can,  
because he's been through the same thing. I think Max needs that kind of...safeness right  
now." Asha explained carefully.  
  
Logan smiled ruefully. "Never thought of Alec as safe."  
  
"Look, Alec's a self-centered, womanizing...pig. But he's still learning how to be  
normal, he's still adjusting from his years at Manticore. And you have to admit, he's  
really matured a lot in the past few months. I can see that, and I don't even see the guy  
that often. And he cares about Max a lot."  
  
"Does he?" Logan asked, a touch of bitterness resounding in his words. "Or does  
he just want to add her to his conquests? This is Alec we're talking about, Asha."  
  
The blond standing before him nibbled thoughtfully at the soft flesh of her bottom  
lip, studying him intently as she did so. "No. Trust me on this, Logan. Women know  
about these sort of things. And I can tell...the way he looks at her sometimes..." She  
lifted both shoulders in a nonchalant gesture. "I think this has been coming for a while."   
She looked directly into his eyes now. "And I think it's time for you to move on too."   
  
"Yeah." he sighed, picking up his glasses and nudging them back into position.   
"Maybe." 


	8. Dark Nights

A/N: Again, thanks for the great reviews! You guys are encouraging me to keep writing. I'll try to keep posting chapters pretty frequently; the next one is already in the works. Hope you like this one; as always, please R&R  
  
  
Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own them. Shocker, huh?   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Seven  
___________________________________________________________________________  
Dark Nights  
  
  
  
Streets  
Seattle Wa., September 9th, 2021  
  
  
  
Blood foamed thick to the opening of the wound, reflected in the gleaming  
madness of his eyes. He flicked a tongue to the ragged flesh, writhing it within the dark  
pool of liquid, a moan of pleasure parting crimson lips.  
  
The moon drifted overhead with the lightness of a passing spirit, illuminating his  
grisly work in all its horror. Hard, sleek muscles undulated beneath loose jeans and the  
shredded remnants of a leather jacket. Dark hair, mussed by the clawing desperation of  
her fingernails, shaded the tell-tale marks of the barcode tattooed across the back of his  
neck.  
  
He made short work of her luscious figure, and lifted her body into his arms as he  
finished.   
  
His eyes penetrated the surrounding shadows.  
  
Nothing.  
  
Blurring, he crossed the street to a nearby sewage grating, and thrust it aside with  
the ease of a child flinging a doll in anger.   
  
The woman's body tumbled with the crunch of bone to the cement below the city,  
and the grating scraped undetected back into place.  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
His heart froze to a sphere of ice only a moment after he'd stepped inside.  
  
He realized she'd moved on, and he was happy for her...well, not happy,  
precisely-it wasn't as though he'd gone about singing for joy and clicking his heels-but  
he'd come to terms with the painful fact. But this...this was too much.  
  
They slept on, undisturbed by his quiet entrance, the only movement that of Max  
shifting lightly in Alec's arms. Her hands rested tucked beneath her stomach, against the  
warm expanse of his hard abdomen, her slender, perfect body molded all along Alec's in  
a way that probed tears to Logan eyes.  
  
He blinked rapidly, backing away, his shoulders thrusting with a quiet thunk into  
the door behind him.  
  
Alec's strong, toned arms tightened around the sleeping form cradled to him. He  
sighed, and leaned gently into her warmth.  
  
Unconsciously, she nuzzled her face into his heat, the slightest of smiles curving  
her full lips.  
  
Logan squeezed his eyes shut, sagging limply against the solid wood at his back.   
  
*I almost thought I was ready to let her go. What Asha was saying...it made sense.   
But this...I don't want to see this. I can't handle seeing him touch her when I can't.*   
  
The rustle of bedsheets drew his eyes slowly open.  
  
Max, inhaling deeply, turned herself carefully in Alec's embrace. Her movement  
failed to go undetected by the male X-5, and he woke to her scent teasing his nostrils.   
For a moment, Alec peered into the depths of her brown gaze, swallowing around the  
lump crusting his throat. It took a moment for him to regain his voice.   
  
He flashed her a smile. "Sleep good?"  
  
And then his eyes fell on the stricken man hovering against the closed door.  
  
Apparently Max had noticed their unexpected visitor at the same moment,  
because she tore violently from his grip and fumbled, panicked, with the blankets  
covering them.   
  
Alec withdrew his limbs from hers, and she used the opportunity to launch herself  
from the bed and halfway across the room.  
  
"Logan...I didn't know..I didn't realize you were here." she whispered, eyes  
wide.  
  
"Didn't seem like you did." he replied, voice cool as he struggled to rein in his  
warring emotions.  
  
Alec cleared his throat. "Have a good roll in the sack, sweetie?"  
  
Max, aghast, whipped around to glare at him. "What?" she hissed.  
  
He smirked. "You heard what I said. Was it as good for you as it was for me?"   
He turned his gaze to Logan. "Good thing you didn't stop by just a little earlier; couldn't  
keep a decent conversation in this house with all the noise we were making. That's why  
we were taking a little nap; needed a rest after all that physical activity."  
  
Max's face darkened ominously.  
  
Logan glanced between them, pain in his eyes. He scratched uncomfortably at the  
shade of stubble coating his chin. "Max, you don't have to-"  
  
"Alec, darling, I'd like a word with you." She glanced at Logan. "*Alone.*"  
  
"Just a word? Or a few? Although you weren't really saying that much while we  
were...well, you know. But I hadn't realized you'd become so religious. That's what you  
were screamin' over and over again, wasn't it? Oh, God?"  
  
Logan grasped for the doorknob. "I just stopped by with some food. And a  
change of clothes for Max." he said, not entirely sure Max even noticed that he spoke.   
She was peering intensely at Alec, who regarded her calmly.  
  
"Fine." she bit off.   
  
He opened the door, turned to look back at her once more, and fled.  
  
She waited, listening hard as his footsteps clattered over the rough floor, until she  
heard the sound of the front door opening. Then, furious, she whirled on Alec.  
  
"You asshole!"  
  
He stared coldly at her. "That was what you wanted me to do, wasn't it? Pretend  
to like you? Put on a show when Logan's around? Just doin' as Her Royal Highness  
commanded."  
  
"I did *not* command you to tell Logan that we're having sex! What the hell were  
you thinking?" she snapped, pacing rapidly.  
  
He swallowed and looked away. "What are you so mad about, Max? Isn't this  
what you want? To push him away? Just tryin' to help out."  
  
"Why did you do that? One minute you're a fairly decent human being, and the  
next you morph into asshole mode. What the hell is your problem?"  
  
*Maybe I'm tired of playing your little bitch. Maybe I'm tired of having you look  
at me like I might be more than a worthless piece of shit, only to push me away as soon  
as Logan waltzes into the picture.* he thought bitterly.  
  
"What is your problem?" she demanded when he failed to answer.  
  
He shrugged. "I don't think I'm the one with the problem. You're the one going  
postal just because I told your ex 'not-like-that' boyfriend that we had sex, which, I might  
point out, *you* already told him."  
  
"I did not!" Max hissed, stalking closer to him.  
  
"What's the matter? You don't like the thought of having sex with me? Or you just don't like me  
talking about it in front of your boo hoo-I-can't-touch-him-the-world-is-coming-to-an-end  
boy toy?"  
  
"Shut up! Just shut the hell up!"   
  
He sighed and briefly closed his eyes, her voice grating upon tender ears. "So  
now what, Max? You kick my ass, chase distraught little Logan down, explain  
everything and we all get a happy ending, right?"  
  
"The kicking your ass part sounds good right about now." She raised her hand  
now, with every intention of striking him, closing in on his bed. Murder surged in her  
gaze.  
  
"Hittin' an injured man, Max. How low are you going to sink?"  
  
"Pretty damn low; starting with that dick of yours."  
  
Her hand blurred to meet him now, but his fingers whisked out to seize her wrist,  
trapping the slender palm in an iron grip. Her vicious struggling disturbed his wounds,  
twisting his face in a grimace of pain, but he clung grimly.  
  
"Let me go!" she hissed, wrenching with all her might at the same moment he  
yanked her toward him.   
  
The force sprawled her over his chest, driving the breath from his lungs in a short  
gasp and trembling the bed beneath their entwined bodies.   
  
She scrambled upright, and found herself straddling him in a severely intimate  
position. "What the hell are you doing? You planned that!"  
  
"Right." he panted beneath her. "I made you attack me as part of a master plan  
to get you to sit on me."  
  
Her hips thrust the tautness of his abdomen as she tried to untangle herself,  
rending a small groan from his lips.  
  
He grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her into him before she could escape, until  
no space lay between bodies grown slick with perspiration. She found it immensely  
difficult to pull of a decent glare with only inches between their faces.   
  
"Keep your damn paws to yourself!"   
  
Alec circled both arms around her, ceasing her thrashing as he stared her directly  
in the eyes.  
  
"Let me go, dammit!"  
  
"Not until you promise I won't be losin' any of my boys."  
  
"I'm not promising anything, you prick." she spat between gritted teeth.  
  
"Then I'm not letting you go."  
  
He ground her body more firmly against him, fingers clawing the soft cotton of  
her shirt. His breath came more ragged now, encouraged by the nearness of those full,  
tempting lips. Heat seared his practically naked body, and he took a moment to be  
thankful for the boxers still adorning his...lower region.  
  
"Max-"  
  
A tentative knock erupted at the door.  
  
Startled, he loosened his grip just as Joshua poked his head cautiously in.   
  
"Heard shouting." He looked confused. "Max and Alec...getting busy?"  
  
"No!" Max yelled vehemently, tearing herself away from him. She dropped with  
a thud to the floor.  
  
Alec eased himself upright, ignoring the pain flaming to life in his shoulder.   
"Nah, Josh. Just playin' around."  
  
Max shot him an angry glare before flouncing into the living room. A moment  
later, the front door slammed shut with a brutality that jarred the bed Alec lay on.  
  
Joshua raised both eyebrows at his friend.  
  
Alec sighed. "Don't worry about it, buddy. Just her time of the month."  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
She'd only stopped for a moment, just to replenish the gas supply in her baby  
before heading north-as far from Seattle as she could get-when he struck.  
  
A dark figure that surged out of nowhere, lips curled in a feral grin, palms curving  
to hard fists as he emerged from the shadows. He lunged for her at the same moment she  
reached to shut off the pump.  
  
"Hey!" Max protested, blurring out of his path, her leg snapping around in a  
vicious roundkick that smashed his body against the pavement.  
  
He rose, spitting blood, nose streaming crimson.  
  
She backed away, eyeing him warily, bringing up her own hands now into  
fighting position.  
  
He threw a fierce right, following its path with a spinning kick to the head that  
caught her off guard. His right foot cracked against her cheekbone, staggering her  
backward.  
  
*Who the hell is this guy?*  
  
He certainly wasn't a norm; not with his swiftness and the power of that kick.   
*Familiar?* she thought, sparing a brief glance at the shadows for a lurking White.   
  
The glance cost her. The young man plunged a fist into her eye, lifting her body  
into the air and crashing it heavily into the gas pump beside her Ninja. She gasped with  
the agony, rolling as she hit the ground, springing back up as he came at her again.  
  
They traded a flurry of blows, too quickly for the human eye to follow. He threw  
a sidekick at her gut; Max blocked and shoved him into the cement barricade separating  
gas pumps.   
  
She cringed at the crack of bone.  
  
He bowed his head for a moment, regaining his breath, and she glimpsed the  
tattoo on the back of his neck, a series of thick ebony lines that ran cold the very blood  
pumping through her veins.  
  
*Holy shit.*   
  
  
  
"Ah! Easy there, big guy."   
  
"Alec hurt?"  
  
"Nah; I just felt like sayin' that. Good stress-reliever." he replied sarcastically,  
edging from the gentle fingers probing his shoulder with disturbing uncertainty.  
  
"Max not here to change bandage, so Joshua need to do it." the nomalie said  
firmly.   
  
*Like I hadn't noticed her Highness' dramatic exit.* Alec thought wryly, squirming  
once more, the flesh of his bare chest tightening in the coolness permeating the old  
house. He gritted his teeth as Joshua stripped away another section of gauze. *Max did  
this on purpose, just to torture me. I wouldn't put somethin' like that past her.*  
  
The fact that he now resided before his precious boob tube did nothing to bolster  
his lagging mood. He'd donned a loose-fitting pair of jeans-moving carefully and  
laboriously; pain was not something he endured well-not long after Max had stormed off  
into the night and coaxed himself into the living room on the notion of zoning for a few  
hours in front of bad TV. Joshua, it seemed, had other plans. Seeing his medium-fella's  
bandages thoroughly soaked, he'd taken it upon himself to play nursemaid.  
  
"Ow!" Alec hissed as crimson-saturated gauze gouged out a nice piece of his  
flesh.   
  
"Joshua sorry."  
  
"It's ok. Not your fault pal. Guess I should have known better than throwin' myself  
in front of a bunch of trigger-happy guys with guns."  
  
"Did it to save Max."  
  
"Sure. But she doesn't exactly seem to appreciate my efforts."  
  
"Max appreciate." Joshua replied quietly.  
  
Alec snorted. "Right. If it had been Logan, she'd have gotten all weepy-eyed,  
praisin' the man to the skies about how he'd saved her worthless hide. Me? I get a pat  
on the head and an 'Oh gee, Alec, that was nice of you.' If I'm lucky."   
  
Joshua's brow puckered in thought for a moment as he contemplated the  
untouched roll of gauze awaiting skillful-in this case, not-so-skillful-hands. He snatched  
it in both large hands, brought it to his nose, and took a cautious sniff.  
  
"Alec jealous?" he asked innocently, setting to unraveling this foreign object.  
  
"Of Logan? Hell no!"  
  
"Alec not jealous." Joshua confirmed, cocking his head quizzically to one side.  
  
"Nope. Not a jealous bone in my perfect body."   
  
"Why not?"  
  
Alec looked at his friend, a bit startled by the abruptness of the question. "Why  
should I be jealous, Josh?"  
  
"Because Alec care about Max."  
  
Alec looked strangely at his canine friend. "Sure...I mean, me and Max, we've  
sorta' become friends these past few weeks. If she was in trouble, I'd help her out, but  
just because of that doesn't mean-"  
  
"Alec reopened wound. Almost healed, and now bleeding again." the nomalie  
observed, interrupting Alec's argument.  
  
Alec glanced down at the hole in his body. "The one on my leg's healin' just  
fine; this one just got a little agitated from mine and Max's...wrestling match."  
  
Joshua worked silently for a moment, brow wrinkled in thought.  
  
"Joshua sorry." he said finally, quietly.  
  
Alec raised both brows. "For what, pal?"   
  
"Hurt Alec. Alec only trying to help Joshua, and Joshua turn away, ask for Max.   
Alec Joshua's friend too." He turned mournful eyes to the X-5. "Joshua just so confused  
and angry about Annie...not understand why she have to die."  
  
Alec patted him clumsily on one broad shoulder. "Yeah, pal. I know how you  
feel. Everyone's dealin' with problems right now; Max hurtin' over her breakup with  
Logan, you dealin' with Annie's death, Logan losin' the woman he loves. And me-well  
I'm just the happy-go-lucky sociopath." He faked a smile. *Yeah right.* a voice echoed  
deep within his mind.  
  
"Max angry and confused too."  
  
"What's Max confused about? Situation seems pretty clear to me-she can't touch  
Logan because of the virus bitch so she's miserable. Nothin' to be confused about." His  
face tensed in another grimace of pain. "Ow." Joshua apologized, resuming his task  
more carefully.  
  
"Max confused because she falling in love with someone else. Not want to  
accept feelings, so get angry instead."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Alec demanded, heart freezing within his chest.  
  
"Joshua watch-see things others not see. And Max falling in love with someone  
else-feelings changing. Been happening for a while now, but Max too stubborn to see.   
Joshua see."  
  
"Who?" Alec whispered, a slick of bile coating the interior of his throat. He  
swallowed.  
  
The front door exploded open suddenly, startling the two and prompting Alec to  
his feet, a good length of gauze dangling from his freshly opened wound.  
  
"Fuck, Max! What the hell happened?" Alec murmured, eyes growing wide at  
the side of her cruelly marked face, the blossoming patches of dark evidence to her recent fight.  
  
"It's worse than it looks." She gave him a grim look. "We have a problem." 


	9. Premonitions

A/N: Here's the next one. Thanks to all my great reviewers-love you guys! Hope my work is continuing to be halfway decent. Please R&R.  
  
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Dark Angel or any of the characters. Fox, James Cameron and more rich people are the lucky ones to claim ownership. Really, though, they can keep the show and the characters, as long as they don't stop me from writing fanfiction. And as long as they give me Alec.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Eight  
_____________________________________________________________________________  
Premonitions  
  
  
  
Logan Cale's Apartment  
Seattle, Wa., September 10th, 2021  
  
  
  
The liquor bottle burned hot against his lips; alcohol descended his throat,  
burning a torturously slow path to his stomach. He gasped lightly, eyes watering, the  
bottle trembling in shaking hands.   
  
Through an alcohol-induced haze, Logan dimly perceived the melodious chime of  
the old grandfather ushering in a new hour. He turned his head, and blurry eyes squinted  
to read the time.  
  
3:00 in the morning. And mountains of work awaited him still, beckoning to this  
limp, miserable figure sprawled across the couch.   
  
*Screw it.* he thought, taking another drink. *Besides, it's not like I'm the only one  
awake at this hour not doing anything productive. Why, I'm sure Max and Alec are up  
right now, screwing one another's brains out.* Another drink. *I guess it was too much to  
ask, for her to wait until we figure this virus thing out. She went off and found someone  
else; someone like her. Probably figured the sex would be better that way.*   
  
He laughed drunkenly, bitterness ringing in the slurred chuckles. *We had  
something, Max. Something more than sex. And you threw it away for some  
small-brained, walking ego just because he had a few good moves in bed.*   
  
The room swayed and pitched before him. He clutched the bottle possessively to  
his chest, and his lips sought its opening again.   
  
*So, what's it like? Screwing another transgenic, I mean. Must be great. He's so  
powerful; I mean, compared to Eyes Only the cripple, of course. And Manticore did well  
with the selective breeding, with his face. It's not like he gets many complaints.*  
  
More liquor found its way through his system. *I hope he at least makes you  
happy, Max. But then, who wouldn't be happy with a hormonally-overloaded member of  
the opposite sex ready to go at any moment-one with incredible stamina, at that? I'm  
sure Manticore made you as talented at sex as it did in other areas.*   
  
*Maybe it's supposed to be this way. After all, you were assigned as breeding  
partners. I guess Renfro didn't realize what a good match-maker she was.*  
  
A cough rattled his throat as the liquid seared flesh. He squeezed his eyes shut,  
waiting it out.   
  
"So Max...here's to you. And Alec." Logan murmured aloud, and gulped deeply.  
  
  
  
"I don't need ice." she muttered irritably, giving Alec a dark look as he came for  
her, bearing an ice pack he'd concocted from several ice cubes and a cloth pilfered from  
beneath the sink.   
  
"Hold still. And for Christ's sake, Max-I'm not going to bite you."  
  
"I told you, I'm fine."  
  
"Looks painful." he said, eyeing her bruises, in particular the nasty one ringing  
her left eye.   
  
"Yeah, well some people deal with pain better than others."  
  
Alec sighed. "Max, I'm just tryin' to help. Now either we do this the hard way,  
or we do it the easy way. It's your choice."  
  
She back away from him, until her ass bumped the counter, and she found herself  
trapped between a hard wall of muscle and ancient wood, the latter damp from the  
slightly leaky roof. "I don't have time for this! I need to get over to Logan's, find out  
who the hell this guy is."  
  
"Just hold still." He brought the ice pack slowly, carefully to her black eye. She  
hissed and pulled away.   
  
"It's cold, dammit!"  
  
Alec smirked. "I've observed over my years that ice is generally cold; some  
marvel of science that took me a long time to grasp."  
  
She glowered at him. "Smart ass."  
  
He shrugged. "Better than bein' a dumb ass. Now Jesus, Max-you're bein' worse  
about this than me. I don't want to hear anymore complainin' about what a sissy I am  
when I get hurt." His fingers gently probed the ebony discoloring of her flesh, and when  
she winced but didn't pull away, he touched the ice pack once more to her.   
  
He stood near, placing his body directly in front of her, and the sight of his hard,  
muscular abdomen suddenly raised goosebumps all up her arms. She averted her gaze,  
pressing herself as closely as possible to the counter at her back.  
  
"You're bleeding again."  
  
"Happens when you get hit by a bullet." His free hand moved unconsciously to  
her stomach, bracing lightly there, and his breath stirred the hair tumbling down across  
shoulders that had begun to heave with a bit more force than necessary.  
  
"It was healing." she said, peering up into his eyes.   
  
"Our playtime ripped it open again."  
  
"Would you let it go?" Max hissed, forcefully removing his hand from her  
abdomen. "Logan isn't here; you don't have to keep pretending we had sex. There was,  
never has been, and never will be any 'playtime.'"  
  
"I was referring to that little incident where you were attempting to remove my  
family jewels and I pulled you down on me. All that movement ripped my shoulder open  
again."  
  
"Maybe you should be more careful who you piss off."  
  
"Maybe you should show a little more respect for the mortally wounded.   
Especially the mortally wounded who get their perfect asses shot up just in the interest of  
savin' *yours*."  
  
"It's not like I've never saved your ass before. If you didn't do so many stupid  
thin-'  
  
"And you know, I'm still waiting for that prize." he continued, cutting short her  
little tirade.  
  
"I'm not giving you some damn prize just because you were stupid enough to  
jump in front of me."  
  
"If I hadn't been 'stupid' enough to jump in front of you, you wouldn't be here  
right now. You said so yourself. And most females would be a lot more grateful, having  
a stud like me swoop in to save the day."  
  
She snorted. "My ass."  
  
"In the movies girls give out kisses for a lot less than what I did for you. So I'm  
thinking' that's the least you owe me."  
  
"Like hell! Why would I want to kiss you? God only knows how many different  
mouths your tongue's been in."  
  
"I haven't had any complaints about my tongue-or my lips-yet. The ladies don't  
seem to mind them." He moved the cloth down her face, to a bruise by her mouth, the  
ice sending tremors all throughout her body. His wrist drooped gently to the fullness of  
her lips, and she whipped her head back as though burned. "So who do you think this  
guy was?"   
  
She shrugged. "Haven't a clue. He just came out of nowhere all of a sudden and  
attacked me. He booked as soon as I caught a glimpse of his barcode."  
  
"You think it's someone like Ben? Some Manticore escapee gone psycho?" Alec  
asked softly, his eyes flicking to hers.  
  
She swallowed hard and looked away, the abrupt harshness of tears stinging her  
gaze. "He sure as hell isn't a law-abiding citizen. Must have seen me and figured I was  
some defenseless female-an easy target. Maybe he was just hungry, needed some  
cash-maybe he just wanted to mug me. But his eyes..." She paused, swallowing again  
and blinking. Alec stepped back, perusing her face. "They looked just like Ben's after  
he cracked. There was just something about them. He looked...crazy. Like something  
wasn't right in his head."  
  
"So what are you going to do now?"  
"Talk to Logan. Maybe he can get a lead on the guy. Then I'll hunt him down.   
I want to get ahold of him before he does any damage."  
  
"I'll come with you." He set the ice pack aside. " 'Bout time I got out of this  
damn place."  
  
"You're still bleeding."  
  
"Yeah, I noticed that myself." He smirked.  
  
Her lips twisted in a scowl. "I'm not bringing a cripple along for the ride."  
  
"Cripple? *Cripple*, Max? Jesus, of all the ways to injure a man's ego-"  
  
"Like your ego doesn't need any injuring." she said, rolling her eyes. "You're  
staying. I don't want you passing out on me or something."  
  
"Ma-ax. I've been lying around like a pile of dirty laundry for, what, 4 days now?   
I'll go insane if I have to stay here for another second." he whined.  
  
She shrugged nonchalantly. "Cry me a river. Besides, I'm still pissed at you."  
  
"What difference does that make? There's nothing new or exciting about you  
being pissed at me. Happens all the time."  
  
"Only because you're such an asshole. You make me out to be some constantly  
PMSing psycho bitch when all our fights are actually you're fault."  
  
He raised an eyebrow and smirked. "If the shoe fits..."  
  
"Shut up. How the hell is this supposed to persuade me to bring you along?" she  
demanded incredulously.  
  
He drew an arm over her shoulder, hugging her lithe frame to his side and  
bending to whisper conspiratorially in one ear. "Because you want me. Admit it Max."  
  
"You wi-"  
  
Suddenly his lips closed hotly over her ear, teeth nipping gently at the sensitive  
flesh, and sending an undulation of pleasure all throughout her. His tongue danced over  
her earlobe for a single moment, tracing its delicate shape with frustrating leisure.  
  
She flung him violently away, into the cupboards opposite the counter, hands  
surging to her hips. "What the *hell* do you think you're doing?"  
  
He grimaced, rubbing at the portion of his lower back which had connected  
painfully with solid wood. "Come on, Max; don't tell me that didn't turn you on."  
  
"Who the hell gave you permission to paw me?" she spat.   
  
"Just tryin' to prove a point."  
  
"And what point would that be, exactly?"  
  
He smirked. "That you find me irresistible-just like every other woman in Seattle  
who's batting for the home team."  
  
"You're such a bastard."  
  
"You're such a bitch."  
  
"Yeah? Well maybe the reason I'm such a bitch is because I have to deal with  
*you* all the tim-"  
  
The world exploded around them in a sudden eruption of searing heat and flying  
glass, the blast lifting Max off her feet and flinging her slender body into Alec with a  
viciousness sufficient to plunge him, reeling, against the dilapidated sink. They fell  
together, her name parting his lips in a single cry before bone cracked on metal, and his  
surroundings dissipated into ebony fog.  
  
  
  
Their screams perforated the serenity of the night, horrified, desperate pleas  
failing to rend any sympathy from the black souls before them.   
  
The car rocked beneath another blow, shattering glass, plunging remnants of the  
windshield into these children's faces. They clung tightly to one another, sobbing into  
the evening, shabby clothes soaked in tears.   
  
"Don't hurt us! Please!" they begged pitifully, their cries all but lost in the  
maniacal shrieking of those surrounding the rusted junker.   
  
"Kill the trannies!"  
  
Beneath the effulgent glow of moonlight, the barest hint of barcodes could be  
detected beneath layers of unwashed, unkempt manes, outlined now in silver.   
  
As they wept, clutching one another, something clanged against the hood of their  
refuge. It clattered to a rest before the destroyed windshield, and wide doe eyes turned  
for a single moment to contemplate this object before it detonated, and the car burst into  
flames.  
  
The childrens' cries disappeared behind the explosion, and the fire swallowed the  
vehicle whole, its ferocious touch rippling clear across the street to the shabby old house  
there, and imploding the windows.  
  
  
  
His hands caressed the silken flesh of her throat with ambiguous tenderness, and  
she succumbed to the fervent roaming of his hands.   
  
He shed his coat as he pushed her down to the couch, his lips exploring the curves  
of her face, his body thrusting hard against her own. She moaned and arched reflexively  
beneath him, bringing up a hand to trace the marks of the barcode tattooed over his neck,  
parting his lips with her tongue and plunging into him.   
  
His fingers spasmed into her hair, gouging the scalp, drawing blood with the  
ferocity of their scrabbling.  
  
"That hurts!" she gasped, breaking their kiss to pull back and look him in the eye.  
  
He smiled, and wicked intent shimmered in his gaze.  
  
She had a single moment to feel terror before his hands closed on either side of  
her head, and with a deft twist, snapped her neck.  
  
Her body sagged to the couch beneath them, and a second later gnashing teeth  
punctured the hollow of her throat. 


	10. Eternal Rest

A/N: Warning: character death ahead. This chapter is dark. Read at your own risk. Please R&R and tell me what you think, although I know you guys are probably going to hate me for what I'm about to do.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel. The storyline of Dark Angel and all its characters belong to James Cameron, Charles Eglee, and Fox.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Nine  
___________________________________________________________________________  
Eternal Rest   
  
  
  
Joshua's  
Seattle, Wa., September 10th, 2021  
  
  
  
Dark and light fluctuated to swallow her, burying Max within encroaching layers  
of dizziness. She struggled upward, fighting her way to consciousness, the pain roaring  
all throughout her body lulling her to the void between sleep and wake.   
  
His warmth shifted beneath her just as she felt herself slipping away once more.  
  
And her senses flared to life, with an abrupt clarity that snapped her eyes open.  
  
She sensed weight over her hips, and craned her neck to see his arms flung  
protectively across her body, the sculpted muscles gashed and bleeding from broken  
glass.  
  
"Alec." Max whispered, his name rattling inside her throat.   
  
Silence.  
  
She turned her body carefully against him, until they lay chest to chest. Her  
fingers trembled their way to his forehead, to stroke errant hairs from soft flesh.  
  
Her hand drew away, damp with crimson.  
  
*Oh shit.*  
  
  
  
A hand thrummed tentatively against his office door.  
  
White looked up, irritated, from the papers scattered about his desk. "It's open."   
he barked.  
  
The door creaked open to encompass the figure of a dark-suited man.   
  
"Otto." White nodded his head slightly. "Do you have anything for me?"  
  
"Yes, sir. We have a prisoner we think might be helpful in locating 452. Picked  
him up about an hour ago, at a bar."  
  
"Excellent work." White said, rising, his work already forgotten. He smiled  
coldly. "I'm sure he'll be more than willing to cooperate, if I ask nicely enough."  
  
  
  
"C'mon, yo' dickwad. Original Cindy gonna' lay the smackdown on yo' ass if  
yo' don't pick up yo' damn phone."  
  
Alec's cell shrilled on despite her threats.  
  
"I *know* yo' ain't sleepin', boy. Not with yo' heavenly genetically enhanced  
genes an' all." the young black woman said, brows drawn in a fine line of irritation.   
  
Finally, as the tenth ring sang its discordant tune, she hung up.  
  
The pounding bass of Crash wafted through the doors, beckoning her back to a  
night of boozing and searching for the honeys. She leaned her head against the grimy  
brick exterior of the building, tucking her phone into one pocket. The driving rap beat  
called to her, and yet...she couldn't go to it. Something nagged at her, a persistent feeling  
hollowing her gut with an unknown concern. A sort of friend's intuition, she supposed.  
  
*Something's wrong. An' if I find out that dickwad let somethin' happen to my  
Boo, he ain't gonna be sittin' down for at least a month, and he sure as hell ain't gonna  
be participatin' in no kinky activities.*  
  
She thrust the collar of her jacket up tighter around the exposed flesh of her neck,  
took a quick glance around, then trekked off into the night.  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
He sensed movement above him, and softness treading the curve of his  
cheekbone.   
  
His lashes fluttered, welcoming stabbing light in a cruel assault on his eyes.   
  
A scent teased his nostrils, one he recognized as familiar but couldn't quite place.   
The blinding pain battering away at his temples disoriented him to no end, driving out all  
other thoughts.   
  
"Alec. Come on, you ass." The voice lacked its usual caustic edge, instead  
sounding almost concerned.   
  
He fought his way upward through crashing waves of agony, straining to open his  
eyes.  
  
A hand descended on his cheek; he leaned into the warmth offered by this  
presence.  
  
"Wake up. Come on, Alec. Wake up."  
  
He stirred lightly, and found the curve of a soft body pressed all against him. His  
eyes shuddered open again, squinting as they peered up into her frightened gaze.  
  
"Max?" he asked woozily, blinking.  
  
"You ok?"  
  
He blinked again, squinting to make out her hazy features, and flexed his body  
beneath hers. "I might be better if you weren't sitting on me."  
  
She scowled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Guess you're fine, if you're making  
typical stupid comments."  
  
Alec struggled to his elbows as she shifted into sitting position, raising one hand  
to tenderly assess the damage. "Shit. I'm bleeding."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Why am I the one who always gets hurt? Why can't you be the one injured once  
in a while?"  
  
"Gee, thanks." Max replied dryly, making a face. She rolled off, freeing him to  
rise. But as soon as he attempted to stand, his legs betrayed him, and the world exploded  
before him in white stars. He staggered back to the floor, gasping.  
  
She crouched beside him, laying a hand on his shoulder to stifle any movement.   
"Careful. You hit your head when you went down. Give it a second before you try to  
stand."  
  
"Guess that explains the headache. Thought you'd just clubbed me over the head  
with something."  
  
"Believe me, it's not as though I haven't been tempted." she returned.  
  
"What the hell happened?"   
  
"I don't know. I just remember...we were talking, and there was an explosion...I  
passed out for a minute or so when we went down. Don't know what the hell happen-Oh  
my God." Her face paled visibly.  
  
"Max, what's wrong?"  
  
"Joshua." she whispered, and surged, panicked, to her feet. "Joshua!" Her voice  
erupted in a yell.   
  
"Max, be careful!" Alec hissed, thrusting himself to his feet after her, swaying  
dizzily for a moment. His hands clutched automatically for the countertop, steadying his  
frame before he reluctantly let go, and followed. "Max, you don't know what-"  
  
And his throat closed suddenly, violently over at the sight of the body lying  
beneath a toppled easel. The figure unmoving, a pool of blood forming beneath lacerated  
clothing.  
  
  
  
The man's face emanated a brutality that froze Sketchy's breath within his throat.   
He stared upward from the cold metal table he lie strapped to, and saw only coldness in  
the cruel dark eyes.  
  
"What the hell am I doing here, man?" he croaked, still working off the  
aftermath of a long night at Crash.  
  
White smiled without humor. "I want to ask you a few questions, Mr..."  
  
"Sketchy." the frightened drunk squeezed off around the lump in his throat. He  
tugged lightly at his bonds, testing them.   
  
"Don't bother. A healthy young male transgenic couldn't break them, much less  
an incapacitated alcoholic." He slipped on a pair of latex gloves, snapping the cuffs at  
his wrist. "I want some information. About 452."  
  
"452? Who the hell is 452?" Sketchy murmured, scrunching both eyebrows. "I  
don't know what you're talking about, man."  
  
*I forgot. The fucking animal has a name now.*  
  
"Max." White corrected himself. "I heard you're a friend of hers, and it just so  
happens that I'm looking for her. If you cooperate and tell me where I can find her, I'll  
let you go. If not, I have ways of making you very uncomfortable."  
  
Sketchy swallowed hard. "I don't know where she is." he whispered.  
  
"I don't have time for goddamn games! Tell me where she is." White spat,  
jerking the man up by his shaggy hair.   
  
"I told you, I don't know! The other day, some cops showed up at Jam Pony to  
arrest her, but she got away. The only other place I know that she might be is her  
apartment."  
  
"She's not there. Where else can I find her?"  
  
Sketchy began to tremble. "I said I don't know!"  
  
White slammed Sketchy's head back to the table, turned, and seized something  
from a nearby countertop. He held up the surgical tool for his victim to see; a long,  
gleaming knife, glinting cruelly in the overhead lights. "Tell me where she is, or I start  
cutting off parts of your body. One at a time, until I get what I want out of you."  
  
"I told you I don't know! I don't know, I swear to God!"  
  
White lowered the weapon to the man's quivering index finger.  
  
  
  
His gore thickly coated the floor surrounding her. It splashed beneath her knees  
as she sank, white-faced and trembling, to his side. Deft fingers worked swiftly to heave  
aside the canvas trapping his body.  
  
"Oh my God." Max whispered. "Oh my God. Joshua..."  
  
Alec squatted beside her, eyes wide in a face drained of color.   
  
"Joshua." she moaned.  
  
The blast had torn his face to pieces, slashing bloody furrows in the forehead,  
raking the broad expanse of his chest with savage claws. He lay on his back, eyes frosted  
in death, lips twisted in a final cry.  
  
"Joshua...no." she said brokenly, thrusting one hand wildly toward his throat,  
feeling desperately for a pulse. Crimson fluid stained her wandering fingertips in a  
horrific reminder of the grisly scene.  
  
A hand descended gently over hers, pulling her back, away from the ravaged  
destruction of her friend and into a pair of arms. She sagged weakly in Alec's embrace,  
tears hazing her vision. "Who did this?" she whispered severely, voice catching on the  
words. "Who the *fuck* did this?"  
  
He kissed her fiercely on top of the head. "I'm sorry, Max. I'm so sorry." he  
whispered, his own voice breaking.  
  
And then she heard their jubilant screams, the triumphant war whoops and chants  
of 'Kill the trannies.' The voices emanating from the direction of the street.  
  
She tore ferociously from Alec's arms and flung herself through the wreckage of  
glass and twisted metal, into the cold night. He scrambled to his feet, ignoring the pain  
of this abrupt movement , and leapt through after her.  
  
They converged on the celebrating humans like a pair of rabid dogs, blurring with  
superhuman speed to greet their victims.  
  
Fists rained on flesh with every ounce of strength lent by fury to their bleeding  
souls. Bone crunched; the spray of blood perfumed the night air. Joyous yells gave way  
to terrified shrieks and pleas.  
  
None escaped. They fell before the power and anger of these supersoldiers,  
tumbling broken and crying to the bloody streets.   
  
Alec smashed a knee into the groin of a man no more than twenty, keeling him  
over with a groan. His hands snapped out to grasp the young man by the collar of his  
jacket, and lifted him easily into the air.  
  
"Please don't kill me!" the young man begged, panting with fear.  
  
Alec's lashes fluttered, and his throat constricted painfully. He pictured Joshua,  
his entrails dangling flaccidly from slashed flesh, life fluids churning the carpet to  
scarlet. His eyes darkened; hands thrust the man's neck to an odd angle, snapping it  
swiftly, mercilessly.  
  
He loosened his grip, and the body slithered with a thud to the ground.  
  
At his side, she swayed and went down, sobbing with a violence that twitched her  
slender figure in vicious spasms. He moved to catch her, and eased them both to the  
ground.  
  
"Shh, Maxie." Alec whispered, and now he began to cry with her.  
  
  
A/N 2: And there you have it. Please, no attempts on my life for killing off Joshua. That wasn't originally what was going to happen, but then the story just kind of took over. What can I say? 


	11. Mourning

A/N: Dun dun dun! Chapter 10. Thank you for not making any attempts on my life and also for not hating me for killing off Josh. Thanks for the reviews, guys, and please tell me how you think I did on this one. The next chapter should be up pretty soon.  
  
  
Disclaimer: These are getting pretty old by now. I STILL don't own Dark Angel or any of its characters; I'm sure that doesn't come as a surprise to anyone. Also, I'm still not rich enough to sue, so once again, don't bother. Dark Angel is the property of James Cameron, Fox, and Charles Eglee.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Ten  
_____________________________________________________________________  
Mourning  
  
  
  
Sewers  
Seattle, Wa., September 12th, 2021  
  
  
  
"Shh. Shh, Max."   
  
His lips sought her hair, and brushed the gleaming strands in a soft, tender kiss.   
She turned her face into his bare chest, and trailing wetness seared flesh.   
  
He stroked her bowed head, bringing his mouth to the curve of her cheekbone,  
lingering there as he pressed his face to hers. He kissed her chin. "I'm sorry." The  
words grated harshly in his throat.  
  
She leaned into his comfort, her arms seeking to pull him closer, and his throaty  
voice echoed within her ears...  
  
"Max." He sounded tired now. Tired and sad. "Max, wake up."  
  
She stirred, and found cold cement beneath her back. She couldn't feel him,  
couldn't feel his body heat...and surged upright, frightened, disoriented. "Alec? Where  
are you?" Max whispered, reaching out for him.  
  
He crouched before her, and touched a hand to her fingertips. "Right here. Sorry  
to wake you up, but you were dreamin', and-"  
  
"It's ok." She eased into the wall behind her, blinking to clear the last fog of  
sleep. "It's...fine." She looked up at him, moisture thick in her eyes. Her breath  
fluttered out in a ragged sigh.  
  
He swallowed hard. "I know, Max."  
  
Sirens had urged them to flee that night, with only enough time for Alec to grab a  
shirt and his jacket before they took to the streets, searching for some place to hide...and  
leading Max to her presumably favorite refuge-the wonderful sights and smells of the  
sewer systems beneath the city. They'd been in hiding for the past two days-wondering if  
it was safe to come out, wondering what was going on in the world above them. But they would  
have move on soon-the offensive stench was starting to get to both, and the lack  
of food and drinkable water presented a serious problem.  
  
Alec moved to her side. She shivered lightly in the surrounding damp and chill  
air, and without a thought he circled both arms loosely around her quivering body,  
lending his body heat.   
  
His gentleness only reminded her of things best forgotten, and she jerked abruptly  
away, blinking aside tears.   
  
He released his hold, sliding with leisurely grace to the hard ground, pocketing  
both hands in his jacket. A thick lump formed within his throat; he swallowed around it  
with difficulty, averting his gaze to the cement beneath him. "Max..."  
  
"Don't." she whispered, turning gleaming eyes to him. "I don't want to talk  
about it."  
  
He sighed. "I don't want to talk about it either. But don't push me away. I'm  
tryin' to help you."  
  
"I don't need your help, dammit." she snapped harshly, wondering at the same  
time what had caused her to lash out at him like that. He'd done nothing but be there for  
her the past two days, though if she thought about it, he'd really been there for her a lot  
longer than two days.  
  
His eyes widened in the face of her anger. She scrambled frantically to her feet,  
leaning one hand on the cement tunnel for support, breathing labored. "This is all my  
fault. He'd have been safer at Manticore; I should have just left him there.   
Then...this...never would have happened." She heard him rise, and squeezed both eyes  
shut, a few tears escaping.   
  
"Max, we've talked about this before. You can't go blamin' yourself every time  
something like this happens." he said quietly. "It wasn't your fault. You didn't kill  
Joshua."  
  
"I let him out into the world, didn't I? I let them all out; it was me who torched  
Manticore. They're free; they're getting killed because of me."  
  
"Would you have preferred Joshua stayed at Manticore? Havin' experiments  
done on him? Havin' Manticore torture him until he wished he were dead? Max, I know  
what's it like to be put through stuff like that-I went through reindocrination. Twice.   
And believe me, I sure as hell prefer being out here, on the outside, takin' my chances  
with the norms to being back at Manticore. You escaped when you were nine-you don't  
know what those sick bastards started doin' to us after your unit escaped."  
  
His voice vibrated with pain; Max spun toward him, her eyes taking in the soft  
perfection of his face, the agony in that beautiful gaze. She felt another tear slip down  
her face, and clenched her jaw to stifle the sob.   
  
He reached out and gently cupped her cheek in his hand. "He's gone to be with  
Annie, Max." Alec whispered, tears shining in his own eyes now. "They'll be happy  
together."  
  
He drew her toward him, into the protective cover of his arms. His fingers  
cautiously sought her own; she peered up into his face through a thick film of tears.   
"They will, won't they?" Max said, smiling slightly through her sadness. "He won't be-"  
Her voice caught on a sob. "Alone."  
  
Alec bent to kiss her softly on the forehead, turning his head to rest it against hers.   
*Neither will you, Max. Whether you like it or not-I'm not leavin' you.*  
  
  
  
They walked side by side without talking, hands thrust within jacket pockets, the  
atmosphere taut and heavy about them. Only quiet intakes of breath permeated the quiet  
of their surroundings, the noise augmented by genetically enhanced hearing.  
  
She felt grateful for his warm presence beside her; more than he would ever  
know. Bearing this alone would have been too much. But with Alec at her side, she  
felt...stronger, somehow. More powerful.   
  
Max snuck a look at him, his profile heavy with undulating shadows. In the dim  
light of the sewers, he appeared almost ethereal. A godly figure given flesh and  
substance.   
  
He glanced across to her brooding figure, and found himself staring into deep  
brown pools. His breath caught for a moment, a brisk inhale that wafted against her  
sensitive ears. They turned quickly away from one another, almost simultaneously. Alec  
felt his heart take up a thundering march within his chest.  
  
Something about the oppressive atmosphere seemed to have changed, the very air  
rippling with electricity. He felt it all throughout his body, a jolt that quivered his entire  
muscular frame.  
  
Max spoke first. "Alec..."  
  
He stopped, mid-stride, and looked expectantly at her.  
  
She couldn't meet his eyes, instead peering intensely at her shoes, as though they  
alone held the meaning of life. "Look, I wanted to say...I *should* say..." she trailed off,  
looking decidedly uncomfortable. Her voice lowered, until vocal cords caressed the  
word in the softest of whispers. "Thanks."  
  
He touched a finger softly to her chin. "For what, Max?"  
  
"For what?" she said, peering at him through wide eyes. "For...everything, I  
guess. For...being here with me now. For understanding what I'm going through."  
  
"Logan would do the same thing." Alec said, his chest tightening at mention of  
the older man's name.  
  
Max shook her head, chestnut locks gleaming beneath the pale illumination of the  
sewer tunnel. "Not like you. What you said before, about us needing to be with our own  
kind...I'm starting to think you're right."  
  
Alec's eyes widened. *Is she saying...*  
  
"The norms are never going to stop fearing us, stop hating us. Even Logan...I've  
seen the look in his eyes. He's afraid of us sometimes, afraid of what we are. I can't be  
with someone who's afraid of me. And I've started to realize that..." Max hesitated, her  
eyes flicking away from the intensity of his face.  
  
His breath stilled inside his chest.   
  
A sharp voice shattered the moment. "What the hell are you kids doing down  
here?"  
  
  
  
"I don't care what yo' have to do. I want to know where the hell my girl an' her  
boy are!"  
  
Logan swiveled to face the enraged black woman, ruffling the hair at the nape of  
his neck. "OC, I'm trying my best, but they could be anywhere by now. They might not  
even be in Seattle anymore. You have to understand, I'm just as anxious to find Max and  
Alec as you are, but that-"  
  
"Then get yo' damn ass in gear an' start hackin' into the police department; find  
out if those two got their asses picked up by them cops."  
  
Seated on the couch, her hands knotted at her lap, Asha rose to stand beside  
Original Cindy. "Do it Logan. We have to find out where they are, what happened to  
them."  
  
His eyes, shadowed in grief and worry, perused her strained face. He squeezed  
both eyes tightly shut for a moment, coaxing his breathing back to normal levels. "Are  
you sure there weren't anymore bodies?" he asked quietly.  
  
"Just doggy boy; I saw them take him out on a stretcher. And a couple o' humans  
they found cold in the street, plus the remains of a couple o' kids. My Boo an' her  
transgenic hottie weren't there."  
  
"You don't know what happened?" Logan whispered, a cold fist closing tight  
around his heart. He exhaled shakily.  
  
"Neighbor was out givin' a report to couple a' sector cops when I got there. Said  
some o' them tranny haters were harrassin' a couple a' kids in an abandoned car. Then  
one o' them chucked a bomb at the car. Blew out the windows o' the house across the  
street-doggy boy's house. Few minutes after that, she saw a fight, an' called the cops.   
Them street thugs ain't goin' nowhere now. The two that survived were roughed up  
awful damn good."  
  
"Max and Alec." Asha guessed, exchanging a grim look with Logan.   
  
"Shit." Logan swore softly. "Was the woman able to give an accurate description  
of the people who attacked the street thugs?"  
  
Original Cindy shook her head, pursuing full lips. "Lady knew they were  
transgenics from the way they moved, but all I heard her say was that they were a  
dark-haired young woman an' light-haired young man with no shirt on."  
  
"That shouldn't be enough for the cops to go on. As long as no one saw them,  
Max and Alec are relatively safe."  
  
"Safe?" Original Cindy demanded. "Logan, are yo' high? Alec an' Max ain't  
safe-not with White houndin' their fine little transgenic booties. An' the cops are lookin'  
for Max, now that they know she's one o' them genetically engineered. Alec ain't much  
better off."  
  
"Maybe there's nothing to worry about." Asha intervened, crossing both arms  
over her chest. "Maybe they had time to get out of Seattle."  
  
"No. Them cops shut down all the sector points-they goin' over everyone with a  
fine-toothed comb tryin' to keep any transgenics from leavin' before they can nab 'em.   
They offerin' a fine reward for any leads on the transgenics who killed the norms."  
  
"There was another murder, just yesterday- a woman found with her neck snapped." Logan  
replied. "Sounded like the work of a transgenic. But here's the strange part; the cops  
found her with her throat ripped out. The marks were made by human teeth."  
  
"Jesus, Logan. Are you saying there's a crazy, cannibalistic transgenic on the  
loose?" Asha whispered. "If the cops somehow find out that Max and Alec were the  
ones to kill those people that did in the transgenic kids...they'll be blamed for the other  
murder, too. We have to find them."  
  
"Eyes Only has a lot of resources. Maybe I could talk to him-call in a few favors.   
He should be able to find something out."  
  
Original Cindy nodded, but the fear had yet to dissipate from the depths of her  
eyes. "Get yo' ass to work boy-I want my Boo home safe and sound." she whispered.  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
Max and Alec froze.  
  
The man approached warily, his footsteps reverberating throughout the narrow  
confines of the tunnel. "I asked you what you were doing in here-nobody's supposed to  
be down here."  
  
"We're hiding because we're transgenics and some norms killed our friend so we  
killed them in return and now we don't want the cops catching us." didn't seem to be the right  
answer. Alec eyed Max, muscles tensing automatically in apprehension.   
  
"Who the hell are you?" she blurted.  
  
"I work for the city. I'm down here to check..." His voice trailed now into  
oblivion. The cautionary gleam in his eyes flared abruptly into unadulterated fear. "Holy  
shit. You're that transgenic bitch who's been on the news..." He stumbled backward a  
step.  
  
"Looks like you've been recognized. Nice to know you're gaining fans." Alec  
said.  
  
The man fumbled with something at his waist.  
  
Light kissed metal in a telltale glint. Alec surged forward, a fist raised to deal the  
blow that would render the man unconscious. His clenched palm merged with flesh, and  
the gun leapt fantastically into the air at the same moment the man pulled the trigger.  
  
A single shot echoed in the tunnel, followed by the terrifying thunk of an  
impacting bullet. 


	12. Nothing Is Forever

A/N: Character death ahead. But before you go ballistic, and start making threats on my life, ranting about how could I kill off *another* beloved character, please pay attention to the 2nd author's note at the bottom of the page.  
  
  
Disclaimer: Let me tell you a little story called: Not Mine. Dark Angel and its characters belong to some rich people with far more money than I currently have or ever will have. Fox, James Cameron, and Charles Eglee own Dark Angel and everything associated with it. But really, people, does it matter anymore? The show's canceled.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Eleven  
__________________________________________________________________________________________  
Nothing Is Forever  
  
  
  
Sewers  
Seattle, Wa., September 12th, 2021  
  
  
  
She felt the bullet enter her body, its brutal path tearing flesh, ripping sinew as it  
settled finally to rest. The force of its impact jerked her backward, thrusting her lithe  
body against the cement wall at her back.   
  
Hands fumbled to the front of her jacket, filling with crimson, her gore pattering  
noisily against the ground. She looked up, into his stunned and frightened face, eyes  
fluttering as the world swayed before her.   
  
His muscular figure fluctuated before her, blurring into incongruous lines,  
enveloped by the shroud of ebony fog that rose as a silent demon to claim her.  
  
Max sagged gratefully into his warm, strong arms as he blurred to catch her, his  
frantic cry of "Max!" the last thing she heard before falling into oblivion.  
  
  
  
"Any new information, sir?"  
  
"No. He's not telling me anything. Either the man has an extremely high  
threshold for pain, or he doesn't know anything about 452's current whereabouts."   
White studied the broken and mutilated form strapped to the table. Sketchy lay in a pool  
of blood and vomit, fluids twining as one against the crimson-stained ruin of tattered  
garments. His right hand, severed at the wrist, dangled as a snarl of exposed veins and  
arteries. His flesh glowed wanly beneath harsh overhead lights.  
  
"What are you going to do now?"  
  
White crossed both arms over his chest, a pensive look spreading his hard  
features. "452 has a strong...emotional attachment to a few people. If we can locate  
some more of her friends, capture them and let her know we've got them, she'll come out  
to play. That goddamn 494 she's always hanging around is our best bet."  
  
"494's not going to be easy to locate, with the transgenic scare. He'll be playing  
it safe, sir."  
  
"Yeah. But the man's a royal fuck-up. Sooner or later, he'll screw up and 452  
will come out of hiding to save her fellow transgenic freak's precious ass. I know her.   
She won't leave him to us."  
  
"So we use 494 as bait."  
  
"That's the plan, Otto. Now be a good man and fetch my gun; it's time to put this  
sniveling little drunk down for good."  
  
  
  
He crouched within ambulant shadows, clutching the body possessively to his  
hard chest. Through the ebony fog of nighttime, his eyes perceived movement, and the  
flash of moonlight on steel.  
  
Sector cop activity had increased immensely all throughout Seattle since the  
recent murders of a few transgenic-harassing street thugs, and the discovery of one of his  
victims, found with her throat ripped out. He'd been playing his cards carefully, moving  
cautiously, avoiding trouble spots such as the one he now found himself cornered in. But  
tonight he'd been caught off guard, so lost in his kill had he been. The scent of fresh  
blood, the tang of it, welling thick on his tongue, had banished all other senses.  
  
*Shit.* he thought darkly, crouching low as a beam of light pierced the night sky.  
  
The cops fanned out, poking amidst the post-Pulse rubble of Seattle, searching for  
anything out of the ordinary.   
  
"Hey!" a voice shouted, and the beam of light flicked to his dark and lurking  
figure.   
  
He straightened, liquid fluency and powerfulness in even so insignificant a  
movement. Six gun barrels surged as one to his muscular frame, and the limp body  
encased within strong arms.   
  
"Freeze!"  
  
"Don't hurt me!" he sobbed, stumbling to meet them. "They attacked us! Two  
of those freaks! My girlfriend..." he cried, and trailed off into broken weeping.  
  
"Hold it. Slow down and tell us what happened, son." one of the cops said  
gently, rifle lowering.  
  
"My girlfriend! They killed her! Oh God..."  
  
"Calm down, son. Let me have her. Now just breathe, son. You're going to be  
fine. We're going to need you to give us a full report of what hap-"  
  
The cop flew backward in response to the fist that connected with his jaw, taking  
out two of his companions as he went down.   
  
The transgenic spun, and drop-kicked a third in the stomach, allowing the body of  
his victim to slither to the ground. His fist surged upward, cracking the nose, driving  
shattered bone into the brain. The cop went down with an agitated gurgle.  
  
"Shoot him!" someone screamed.  
  
He dodged the coming rain of bullets, and blurred to boot a gun from the  
quivering hands of a terrified officer. His fingers plunged around the man's neck,  
snapping it, and already he was moving again. A chop delivered to the back of the final  
cop's head broke his spine.  
  
He paused, barely winded, and noticed movement among the blood-slick ground.   
His fingers snatched up a fallen weapon, and he thrust down hard on the trigger, stitching  
the tangled bodies with a barrage of rounds.  
  
"Sorry, boys. But I can't afford to have any witnesses." he whispered as the last  
scream of agony faded into oblivion.  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
She stopped breathing.   
  
He felt the struggle of her chest as it rose and fell, the normally simple task made  
particularly laborious by the bullet lodged in her body. This slight motion the only  
comfort lent to him while Max lay dying in his arms. But now, beneath his frantic hands,  
the movement waned, and froze as the air stilled within her lungs.  
  
"No! Come on, dammit!" he said harshly, and gave her a shake. "Max! Max!"   
  
He unzipped her jacket with trembling fingers, laying bare the black T-shirt she  
wore, and the gaping edges of the bullet wound. "Fuck." he whispered, his vision  
blurring violently as he groped for a pulse, tilting her head back with one gentle hand.   
"Fuck!"   
  
Squeezing his eyes shut, Alec set his lips briefly, firmly to her own, and blew a  
breath into her lungs. Her mouth burned cold beneath his, the flesh full, soft...lifeless.   
"Max!" he whispered against her lips. "Come on." Another breath.  
  
Nothing.   
  
He worked feverishly, alternating between breathing life into her body and  
checking the rise of her chest as her lungs inflated with his air. The minutes crawled  
sluggishly by, each passing moment heightening his fear as she failed to respond.   
  
Desperate, Alec pulled back for a moment, his panicked gaze perusing her still  
and pale face.   
  
And looking at the beauty of her features, slack in their final rest, he finally  
recognized his efforts as futile. Too late. He was too late to save her, too late to prevent  
her death.  
  
"Oh God." Alec said, his voice breaking. He cradled her head in his lap, pulling  
her deadweight into his arms. And, rocking them both, her blood thickly coating his  
hands, he began sobbing brokenly into the softness of her hair.  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
Asha lay in a halo of moonlight, silver illumination caressing the soft curves of  
her body. In the dim light streaming through the window, she exuded beauty, made  
ethereal by the soft play of moonlight.  
  
He watched her from his chair at the computer desk, removing his glasses to rub  
at weary eyes. Her chest rose and fell in deep breathing, full lips parted the slightest as  
she slumbered peacefully. Hair tumbled thick and golden across sculpted cheekbones.  
  
Logan sighed, and spun to face the glowing monitor before him, resuming his  
vigil. He'd spent the entire day, and yesterday as well, scouring the Internet, hacking into  
confidential records, anything he thought might aid him in the search for the ever-elusive  
Max and Alec. And so far-nothing. No arrests, no sightings. Where ever the two had  
holed up, it was in a place no one thought to look for two transgenic murderers, as the  
news had taken to calling them.  
  
*Give me a sign, Max-anything.* he thought, reaching for the mug of coffee at his  
left elbow. He'd need the caffeine if he planned on staying awake. Burning liquid  
descended his throat. *I just need...something.*   
  
He was beginning to grow severely worried. If the cops nabbed them now, there  
was no way, even with his contacts and connections, that he would be able to free them  
from the pile of shit they'd inevitably buried themselves under. All the money in the  
world couldn't persuade a blood-thirsty and frightened public to release two transgenic  
murderers before justice had been served.  
  
Still slumbering peacefully, Asha moaned lightly, and shifted positions, a slight  
smile curving her lips. Logan swiveled to look at her once again, cocking his head as he  
contemplated the soft arch of her body. She looked hearbreakingly young in her sleep, a  
certain vulnerability that he found strangely beguiling softening her features.  
  
Almost as though she'd sensed his gaze, Asha stretched languidly, and slowly  
peeled her eyes open. She blinked a few times to clear the fog of sleep, smiling gently  
when she caught Logan's eyes on her. "Anything yet?" Her voice rang husky with the  
last remnants of slumber.  
  
He shook his head, setting to work once more. "Nothing. No sightings, no  
hysterical old woman claiming they broke into her house and held her at gunpoint." He  
sighed and fumbled to massage away a cramp in his right shoulder. "I don't know where  
else to look."  
  
"Take a break, Logan. Just for a few minutes. You've been at this all night. I'll  
make you something to eat."  
  
"I have to find them before someone else does. The cops aren't going to take any  
pity on them, Asha. Neither are the citizens of Seattle. You heard what happened to that  
transgenic boy a week or so ago, the one beaten to death before Max could save him.   
Think about what they'd do to two of the 'freaks' who have killed their own kind."  
  
"I know." she said, sighing gently. "But I don't know what else to do. Do you  
think Eyes Only could really help us, when you're drawing a blank?"  
  
Logan shrugged. "Eyes Only has some resources not available to me. He might  
be able to come up with something where I'm drawing a blank." He didn't bother  
mentioning that he'd already scoured Eyes Only's resources-several times-as that would  
undoubtedly give away the true identity of the man behind the Streaming Freedom  
videos.   
  
"Is there any way we can help them if they are...caught?"  
  
"Short of storming the police station, weapons drawn, and breaking them out?   
No. Not that I can see. And then we'd be as much a 'danger' to society as Seattle  
believes Max and Alec are. Whatever punishment came to them would fall on the two of  
us as well."  
  
"Why do you get mixed up in all this shit, Logan?" Asha asked softly. "I know  
you love Max, but don't you sometimes wonder how much easier, how much less  
complicated it would be if she hadn't come into your life?" She leaned back into the soft  
cushions of the couch. "I like Max. And Alec too. He's not such a bad guy, if you can  
see past the whole tough-guy exterior." She shook her head. "But sometimes I think  
about what it was like before I got into Manticore and all its crazy shit."  
  
"Me too." he whispered, and the corners of his mouth lifted in a wan smile. "But  
I love Max. No matter what, no matter who she's with. A part of me will always love  
her. I can't control that. And love makes you do crazy things."  
  
  
  
Sketchy tasted vomit, and the acrid tang of blood. He moaned, and shifted  
slightly, undulations of pain rippling all through him. His nostrils curled against the  
scent of his own bodily fluids, staining the steel table beneath him in a gruesome  
mockery of an abstract painting gone horribly wrong.  
  
*Where the hell am I?* he thought fuzzily, squinting into bright light. The world  
shifted and blurred treacherously before him.   
  
He felt cold. Shock, no doubt, judging from the amount of blood he'd lost. He  
craned his neck weakly, struggling to bring his surroundings into focus. *Where am I?* he  
wondered again, and then his eyes fell on the stump of his right hand, and he felt his  
stomach shift violently.  
  
*Shit.* Vomit seared his throat once more. He lowered his head back to the table,  
panting and weak.  
  
For a single moment, a shape blocked the harsh illumination. A face, eclipsing  
his own.  
  
"Hey-"  
  
"Time to say good night. Too bad I don't have time to read you a bedtime story."   
Ames White muttered, smiling coldly.   
  
And Sketchy found himself now contemplating the barrel of a gun, its sights  
aimed directly between his eyes.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N 2: Things are not always as they seem. Think about that before you curse me to hell for killing Max, kay? 


	13. Life

A/N: Sorry, guys. I expected this to be up a lot sooner, but I got sick. Sick on Christmas-ugh-I don't reccomend it. Anyway, I told myself I was going to finish this chapter today and chained myself to the computer desk to crank it out of my tired brain. (Slight exaggeration, but you get the picture.)   
  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm just borrowing the characters. Dark Angel belongs to James Cameron, Charles Eglee and Fox.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Twelve  
_________________________________________________________  
Life  
  
  
Sewers  
Seattle, Wa., September 13th, 2021  
  
  
  
He sobbed into the horrible stillness of her body, the narrow tunnels echoing his  
cries of grief back at him a hundred times. She lay stiff and cold in his arms, the supple  
curves of her body frozen in death.   
  
Alec gripped her for dear life, this lifeless, spiritless husk now the only remnant  
of Max. He wanted to feel her warm with life beneath him, wanted to feel her hand  
reaching tentatively to dry his tears.   
  
But no. And now, the things he'd so often wanted to say, the things he'd never  
had the courage to say were of no use. He could scream them with every ounce of  
strength in his genetically enhanced body, only to have such confessions fall on deaf ears.   
Time, so precious and boundless, had slipped between his fingers, sought after but never  
captured. So much of it wasted.  
  
And here Time ended. Here Time ended, with the termination of Max's painfully  
short life.   
  
"I'm sorry." Alec whispered into an ear that could no longer hear. His voice  
cracked. He turned her in his arms to face him, and bent to kiss motionless lips. Her  
mouth warmed slightly beneath his own, his tears tracing the contours of her waxy flesh.  
  
He tucked his head into the crook of her neck, shoulders heaving. *I'm sorry, Max.   
I'm so sorry. I wish you could hear me. I wish you could understand what a sorry son of  
a bitch I am. I killed Rachel, and now I've let you die.* Alec pressed her harder into his  
chest as the sobs grew in power, quivering his entire frame.   
  
"I'm sorry." he sobbed again, into the permeating silence of his surroundings, the  
morbid quiet broken only by sounds of his grief.  
  
  
  
*Where am I? What the hell is going on?*  
  
Warmth, and a familiar scent penetrated the shadow embracing her. She drifted  
aimlessly between sleep and wake, life and death, the world stretching black and lonely  
ahead of her.   
  
A throbbing awoke deep within her veins. She felt power surge within, rippling  
throughout her body. But with the power came pain; sharp, wrenching. She writhed  
within its hold, gasping and crying out, seeking light in this dark world.  
  
Through the cloud of excruciating agony, however, she felt her senses returning  
once more. The reek of gunpowder filled her nostrils. The scent of blood. A thundering  
heartbeat, pounding close to her body.  
  
She struggled through the darkness, clawing its immense shroud, reaching for the  
warmth burning so close, and yet so far away.  
  
Soft flesh whispered against her own. A single name resounded within the dark  
world, within her. *Alec.* A meaningless word, and yet somehow it seemed greatly  
important.  
  
"I'm sorry." The whisper penetrated her world, two words spoken with such  
softness she barely caught them. A wrenching sob tore the blackness. She sensed pain,  
grief, these emotions so raw and taut they roused tears to her sightless eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
*Why? Who are you?* And the name rose once more. *Alec.* "If I hadn't been  
'stupid' enough to jump in front of you, you wouldn't be here right now. You said so  
yourself. And most females would be a lot more grateful, having a stud like me swoop in  
to save the day." "Maxie, Maxie, I think your fantasies are startin' to cross over into  
reality. Now far be it for me to deny a woman her heart's desire, so if you're dreamin'  
about makin' me moan, go ahead and go for trying it-no complaints here." Random  
phrases tore at her, memories voiced by gravelly male vocal cords. "He's gone to be  
with Annie, Max. They'll be happy together."   
  
Gentle fingers, treading the curve of a cheekbone. *Her* cheekbone. She  
recognized this soft touch, and now the name began to take on meaning. A face. Full  
lips, beautiful hazel eyes, thick with dark lashes. Sandy hair.  
  
*Alec.* Her lips formed this name soundlessly.  
  
And Max came back to him.  
  
  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"  
  
"You're nothing but a goddamn screw-up! I'll never forgive you for this! This  
was mine and Logan's last chance, Alec!"  
  
"Guess you're not such a bad guy after all. Hell, you're an irritating asshole, a  
womanizer, selfish and extremely good at pissing me off, but I suppose you have your  
moments."   
  
Her voice resonated throughout his head, so real he could almost imagine she  
stood beside him. He squeezed his eyes shut and nuzzled his face into her hair, breathing  
her scent for the last time.   
  
Alec pressed his lips to her temple, gripping her body for dear life for a long  
moment before laying her carefully to the cement. Her beautiful face, heartbreakingly  
still and ashen, wavered and blurred in his vision. He closed his eyes once more, inhaling  
deeply, lips trembling.  
  
Then, going to his knees beside her, he bent and softly kissed her mouth, one  
hand stroking her face. "I'll be back." he whispered, voice cracking. "I'll bring Logan.   
We'll get you out of here, Max."   
  
  
  
"I'll be back. I'll bring Logan. We'll get you out of here, Max."  
  
*Don't leave me.* she thought, struggling to voice the plea. His warmth dissipated  
into the surrounding damp of the sewers, and she felt a stab of fear grip her heart. *Alec!   
Wait!*   
  
Her full lips twitched. Lashes fluttered.  
  
*Wait!*   
  
His footsteps withdrew quietly, echoing off the tunnels. Desperation surged  
through her veins. *Why can't I move? Why can't I call his name? Am I still dead?*   
  
The cement burned cold beneath her. She felt the weight of her limbs pressing  
heavily against the floor.  
  
"Alec." A whisper even a genetically-enhanced ear couldn't have caught. Max  
wrenched her eyes open, touched a tongue to dry lips. "Alec, wait!" Louder this time,  
but his retreating back still didn't hesitate.  
  
Her eyes slipped closed, then slowly blinked open once more. Her full mouth  
pursed, and she summoned her strength, and all the lung power Manticore had bestowed.   
"Wait!"  
  
The footsteps paused. And slowly, lethargically, he turned, eyes wide and  
disbelieving in a face glistening with tears.  
  
  
  
*No.* he thought. His palms curved to hard fists, nails gouging flesh. *This is a  
trick. Some kind of goddamn hallucination. A mirage, like in the desert. You want  
something bad enough, you see it.*  
  
Unbidden, her name escaped his lips in a pained whisper. "Max?"  
  
"You just going to leave me here or something, asshole?" she demanded, but the  
compassion in her mahogany eyes belied the harsh words. Her body writhed to sitting  
position.   
  
He stumbled forward a few steps.  
  
"It's me." she whispered, her eyes beseeching him. "Look, I don't know how,  
but-"  
  
"You stopped breathing." he whispered. "How the hell...?"  
  
She shook her head. "I don't know."  
  
He blurred to her side, and collapsed beside her, reaching out to cup her face in  
one hand. She lifted her own hand and slipped it over his, loosely entwining their  
fingers.   
  
"I saw you die."  
  
Max pulled his face into her neck, the tears still coming, heaving his shoulders, as  
she stroked the hair at the nape of his neck. His broken sobs drew tears to her own eyes,  
and the world grew hazy before her.  
  
"Shh." she whispered into his hair, and gently kissed the top of his head.  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
They crouched side by side, bodies shrouded in lurking shadows. The night  
burned surprisingly cool, nipping at exposed flesh, drawing the breath from their bodies  
in white clouds.  
  
Sporadic bursts of static shattered the silence, loud voices crackling over the  
radios dangling from nearby sector cop's belts. The light thud of boots added to the  
menacing atmosphere.   
  
Alec counted seven in all, heavily armed, grim-faced beneath their helmets as  
they underwent their task. Or maybe just bored-faced; these boys looked like they hadn't  
seen any action in a while.  
  
"How the hell are we supposed to get to Logan's?" Max whispered into his ear.   
"There's probably even more of them nearby." She glanced over at him. "They're  
looking for us."  
  
"What?" he asked, slightly startled.  
  
"Those norms we killed; they found them, someone said a transgenic did it, and  
now they're scouring Seattle for the killers. Maybe someone saw us do it."  
  
They shared a grim look.  
  
Alec nodded to the building at their backs. "Looks like the only way to go is up.   
Logan's place isn't too far from here; we can probably use the building roofs to get past  
the sector cops."  
  
"Unless one of them spots us and wonders what the hell two kids are doing on top  
of a building at 2:00 in the morning." Max grumbled, but obligingly turned to face the  
brick wall. "I need a boost."  
  
He laced his fingers for her waiting foot and, muscles bunching, tossed her up to  
grasp the pipe threading the length of the building. She clung to it, hands trembling at its  
chill touch, metal slick with precipitation beneath her flesh.  
  
"Max." Alec whispered from the ground. She craned her neck to peer down at  
him. "Be careful."  
  
"Yeah. Sure." she whispered back, meeting his gaze. "Can you make it?" A  
slight inclination of her chin to indicate the distance between the ground and the pipe.  
  
He shrugged. "I'm taller than you."  
  
"Right."  
  
And with that, she set to work nimbly scaling the side of the building, pitting her  
feet against solid brick as she climbed. Beneath her, she felt the pipe rattle in protest as  
Alec joined her.  
  
Max reached the top only a few moments later, and heaved herself up and over  
the lip, rolling as she hit the roof and coming up on both feet. "Hurry up." she called  
softly over her shoulder.  
  
He appeared to be struggling, and too late she remembered his shoulder wound.   
In the light of the moon, it glistened in a fresh sheen of crimson.  
  
"Shit. Alec, are you ok?"  
  
"I'm fine." His voice sounded slightly ragged.  
  
She crouched at the edge of the building, reaching both hands down to him.   
"Give me your hands. I'll pull you up the rest of the way."  
  
"Max, I don't need-"  
  
"Quit arguing, you stubborn bastard, and give me your hands before you fall!"   
she snapped.  
  
Obediently, Alec slipped one hand from the pipe, and set it in her own. She  
clasped it tightly, leaning back to compensate for the shift in weight. "Max, are you sure  
you can pull me over the side? You know, a half hour ago you were dead. I think that  
takes precedence over a bullet in the shoulder."  
  
"I can handle it, as long as you shut your big mouth."   
  
He offered his other hand, and she tugged him up, onto the roof with her, giving  
him a moment to gain his balance before releasing his fingers.  
  
Together, they blurred to the end of the rooftop and leapt to the next, landing  
easily.  
  
"Why did you care?" Max whispered as she scanned the cops milling below,  
searching for some sign that they'd been spotted.   
  
He sneaked a quick glance over at her. "What do you mean?"  
  
"When I...died. Why did you..." she let the sentence trail off, and shrugged.  
  
He swallowed hard, and looked away. "Why do you think, Max?"  
  
She blinked, surprised, and ceased her scan of their surroundings to turn to him.   
"You blamed yourself. You thought it was your fault. Just like Rachel."  
  
He shrugged. "Yeah. But that's not why."  
  
"Then...I don't get it."  
  
He smirked, an empty twisting of the lips without the usual spark behind it. "No.   
I don't suppose you would." Then, throwing her a sarcastic two-fingered salute, Alec  
surged to the end of the roof, and sprang into the night air, landing safely on the next  
building over.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N 2: Don't worry. I'll explain Max's miraculous recovery in the next chapter. 


	14. Killer

A/N: I know I said I would explain about Max's little ressurection in this chapter, but I just got off into different places and decided I needed to end the chapter when I did, or it would end up being this long-assed thing. The next chapter is already written, I just need to put it in proper format. Logan forms a theory as to why Max came back to life, and the characters will go from there trying to figure it out. So It's not *really an explanation, but it might get some speculations going.  
  
  
Disclaimer: Nope. Still not mine. Dark Angel and all things associated with it belong to James Cameron, Charles Eglee, and Fox.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Thirteen  
_____________________________________________________________  
Killer  
  
  
  
Logan Cale's Apartment  
Seattle, Wa., September 14th, 2021  
  
  
  
The refrigerator bulb hummed to life as he nudged the door quietly open, shading  
his features in warm golden light.   
  
Alec stood contemplating its contents in the chill morning air, pocketing one hand  
in his jeans as his eyes perused the refrigerator's offerings, not seeing anything that  
struck his fancy. Logan and his damn hoity-toity, rich-man food.   
  
He sighed and snapped the door shut, leaning his back against the door and  
shivering lightly in the chill early-morning air. The cold slithered over the sleek and taut  
muscles of his abdomen, tightening the muscles in recoil of its loathsome touch.  
  
Fatigue burned just beyond his eyes; he eased them shut.  
  
*Damn. What a hell of a day.*   
  
Explaining to a concerned Logan had been hard enough, when all he'd wanted to  
do was crash on the couch and sleep for about a thousand years. But of course, good ol'  
Eyes Only had insisted on asking about a million question, punctuating every other  
sentence with "Are you all right?" And when that had finally grown tiresome, the  
oh-so-original "Are you sure you're all right?" Both questions aimed at Max, of course;  
Alec might as well have been chopped liver. But, of course, as soon as he'd tried to take  
advantage of being ignored, and take a nice long nap, Logan had suddenly realized that  
another person besides his precious Max Guevera was in the room, and turned to barrage  
Alec with a series of, "What were you thinking? Do you two realize how much trouble  
you're in? The media's having a field day with these 'transgenic murderers.'"   
  
He'd taken the heat off himself easily enough, with a, "Hey, guess what. Max  
died today." Ha. Let her explain that one, while he got some much-needed shut-eye.  
  
Which he'd done, or tried to do, only to find that sleep eluded him. Maybe it was  
Logan's ever-present, severely irritating, stick-up-the-ass, I'm-only-here-to-help voice  
yapping on in the background. Or maybe, slumber had become complicated with the  
grisly, all-too-realistic image of Max lying cold and motionless in his arms.  
  
"No! Come on, dammit!" His frantic voice reverberated throughout his mind.  
"Max! Max!"   
  
*Shit.* Alec thought, pinching the bridge of his nose, hard, between thumb and  
forefinger.   
  
"Having trouble sleeping?"  
  
His eyes snapped open to glimpse a slender figure darkening the kitchen  
entrance. *Think about her, and she appears. Huh. Magic.*  
  
"Yeah. Had some stuff to think about." he replied, and moved to allow her  
access to the refrigerator. "What about you? Felt like a snack or something?"  
  
She shrugged and hoisted herself onto the countertop. "Not really. Shark DNA  
and all."  
  
"Yeah." He didn't meet her gaze.  
  
Silence drifted to embrace them, settling as a heavy veil over both. Max darted a  
quick glance over to him beneath thick lashes, studying his brooding face.  
  
"You and Logan seemed to be connecting. Maybe it was the whole  
you-don't-realize-how-much-you-love-someone-until-you-almost-lose-them crap." Alec  
said finally, his voice breaking the stillness.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You guys had the whole starry-eyed love thing going on. 'Oh, Max, I'm so glad  
you're ok! What would my pitiful excuse of a life ever be without you?'" he mocked.  
  
"It was one-sided." she said quietly.  
  
He paused, scrunching his brow. *Well that wasn't what I expected.* "What?"  
  
"The starry-eyed love thing. It was one-sided." she whispered, face pensive.  
  
Alec thrust himself onto the countertop beside her, their jean-clad thighs  
touching. "What do you mean?"  
  
"And I wouldn't really call it 'the starry-eyed love thing.' He was glad we were  
fine, that I wasn't dead after all. But...he's afraid of us. I could see it. In his eyes. He's  
afraid of us, afraid of what we did."  
  
"Logan loves you, Max. He's not afraid of you."  
  
"Yes he is. At first, he was just concerned. And when you told him what  
happened, I thought he was going to...I don't know, piss his pants or something."  
  
Alec snorted lightly.  
  
Max looked over at him, a slight smile curving her full lips. "Shut up. Pissing  
your pants is a perfectly good way of showing your love for someone."  
  
"Yeah, Max. I'll have to remember that one. I'm sure it'll impress the ladies."  
  
"Anyway, he was just concerned at first. Wanted to make sure I was really ok.   
But then, as we kept talking, and we got around to...Joshua, and the norms we killed, he  
got this look in his eye. Like he was starting to realize what we are." Her voice dropped  
to a whisper.   
  
Instinctively, Alec reached out and took her hand.  
  
"He looked at me like...like he thought I was suddenly going to lunge at him and  
rip his head off or something." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I don't know  
how he can love me when he thinks I'm some kind of psycho killing machine."  
  
She blinked up at him, eyes shimmering. "I miss him, Alec. I miss him so much. And  
when I realized who'd killed him, that they were still out there...I just snapped. It was  
like I couldn't control myself. I know that doesn't make it right, but I don't think Logan  
understands why I did it. It's not like I got off on killing those norms."  
  
"I know, Max." Alec whispered, leaning forward to place a gentle kiss on her forehead.   
"And Logan does love you. Maybe I don't have much experience in that particular  
field, but come on, it would take an extremely doped-up, extremely drunk Sketchy not to  
see how much that man cares about you." *And how much she cares about him.* he added  
silently, feeling a lump swell against the inside of his throat.  
  
He stroked his thumb lightly along her palm.  
  
"I'm not sure if I love him anymore." she whispered.  
  
He stared at her, stunned, a million emotions surging through him. "What?"  
  
"I don't...I don't know if I love him anymore. I just...he's one of them." she said,  
and then, immediately feeling ashamed, shook her head fiercely. "That's not what I  
meant. OC, Sketchy, the whole gang at Jam Pony, they're all norms. And I love them.   
But what you said before, that night I almost killed Logan, it makes sense. It's too  
dangerous for us to be with one of...them. We should be sticking to our own kind. To  
our family." She lifted her eyes to his, the mahogany orbs turbulent in thought. "And  
after all that's happened, it's made me start to think about me and Logan. About our  
future together, even if we had the cure to the virus. It wouldn't work, no matter how  
much we wanted it to. I'd just be putting him in danger."  
  
Alec studied their entwined fingers, smoothing his fingertip lightly over the  
caramel flesh of her knuckles, satin flesh whispering beneath the callused pad of his  
hand. Max's eyes fluttered to track the movement of his finger, his soft touch rippling  
undulations of pleasure all through her.   
  
Overhead, the kitchen lights hummed with quiet nonchalance. Alec's face shone  
softly beneath the gentle touch of illumination, each flawless plane shimmering in dusky  
light. Max felt a sudden urge to reach out to him, touch that silky flesh with her  
fingertips, trace the shape of those full lips.  
  
"Max-" he began quietly.  
  
"You tried to save me, didn't you?" she asked, cutting him off.   
  
He glanced up at her. "You were unconscious. How would you know? Maybe I  
just left you there, and ran to save my own ass."  
  
"I heard you. When I was...dead. Or whatever I was. I could hear things. I could  
feel you holding me. But it was dark. And I couldn't talk, I couldn't move. I remember  
thinking your name, hearing your voice..." She met his gaze, full, sumptuous lips pursed  
in thought. "You were crying. And saying you were sorry."  
  
Alec reached with his free hand to scratch uncomfortably at the back of his neck.   
"Because I let you die." he said, voice catching slightly. "I didn't stop the bastard in  
time."  
  
"Why? I mean, why did you care? All I've ever done is bitch at you and beat on  
your ass."  
  
He grinned slightly, breaking the tension of the moment. "That's just because  
you like it so much. You'll use any excuse to get close to my ass." He shrugged. "Can't  
say I blame you-it's pretty damn fine."  
  
She punched him lightly on the kneecap, shaking her head. "Just do me a favor,  
'kay?"  
  
"What's that? You know I'll do anything for you Max-unless it involves anything  
resembling work, getting up before 10:00, hitting on an ugly woman, or returning any of  
the passes Normal attempts to make at me." Alec shrugged again. "Unless, of course,  
we're talking sexual favors here, because in that case I just might perform any one of the  
above if that's what it takes. Hell, maybe even all of them. It's been a little while since I  
got any action in the sack."  
  
She scowled at him. "Fine. I take back what I was just about to say."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I take it back. It doesn't matter what it was."  
  
"Well you have to tell me what it was now. Gettin' a guy all excited like that,  
Max, shame on you!"  
  
"A discussion of a nonexistent favor gets you excited? God, no wonder you go to  
all those titty bars for a little release, if you get worked up that easy! What happens when  
you get all hot and heavy with some chick? Must take a while to get little soldier boy  
calmed down."  
  
"Well, I think you know what happens when I get all hot and heavy with some  
chick. Let's just say she has trouble sitting down for a while-like a month. And I don't  
get excited discussing nonexistent favors-just sexual ones. I happen to have a vivid  
imagination, Max."  
  
She smacked him in the chest.   
  
"Ow, Max!"  
  
"Shut up. I barely touched you."  
  
"You left a handprint on my chest."  
  
"Oh, poor baby." she mocked. "Want me to kiss it and make it better?"  
  
"That might help. But I don't think just a little peck would do it. Gonna' need  
some nibbling-maybe a little tongue. Especially for an injury like this."  
  
"You're such a pig."  
  
"And a conceited bastard, a womanizer, a pain in the ass, a screw-up...the list  
goes on."  
  
"Hey, finally you're starting to yourself in a less-than-magnificent light. What a  
miracle-there is a God after all." she agreed, lips curving smugly. Her tone rang light, but he knew it to be a masquerade as he looked into her eyes. Pain  
drifted thick within them, grief and guilt twining as one to darken her beautiful eyes. The  
agony of losing Joshua would linger onward for a long time, no matter how much banter  
they exchanged to try and conceal the hurt.   
  
  
They fell silent once more. Alec moved his fingers lightly within her own, a bit  
shocked to find that she hadn't let go, or broken his thumb.   
  
"I was scared." he said quietly after a moment.  
  
"Of what?"  
  
"Of watching you die. Of losing someone else that I...of losing another friend."   
he finished lamely, swallowing hard. "Max, I..."   
  
Max set a finger softly to his lips, and brought her free hand to his face, to caress  
the silk of his flesh.   
  
His throat constricted in another hard swallow as his eyes flickered to meet hers.   
Her face hovered so near, their breaths mingling as one, heat dancing between them. He  
slipped his hand over her own and drew it slowly free of his face, turning her palm to his  
lips.   
  
She closed her eyes as Alec pressed a gentle kiss to her palm, his mouth lingering  
against her skin.  
  
*I love you. he thought, and longed to say the words out loud. I love you, Max  
Guevera. That's why I cared. That's why I cried like a goddamn baby when you died.   
Why the hell can't you understand that?*  
  
He pulled back, studying her intensely as her eyes fluttered lethargically open.   
  
"I'm not in love with Logan anymore." she whispered as he stroked his thumb  
over her cheekbone.  
  
"Really?" he asked, voice husky. "Before I thought it was just 'I don't know if  
I'm in love with him anymore.'"  
  
"I'm not. I've been trying to fight it, trying to persuade myself that I still love  
him, that someday we'll work everything out between us. But I can't keep pretending. I  
mean, I guess I have to face the truth sooner or later. That my feelings are changing."  
  
Alec leaned forward, and his lips brushed her chin in a featherlight kiss. She  
sought the warmth of his muscular body, and pressed closer, until their torsos fit snugly  
against one another.   
  
His scent embraced her, a clean, masculine smell that drifted tantalizingly near to  
her nostrils. The heat of his body seared her flesh even through the shirt she wore, and  
her heart began a thundering march within her chest.  
  
"Your feelings are changing for who? Logan, or someone else?" Alec whispered,  
losing himself in her nearness. He kissed her chin again, touching his fingers lightly to  
her jaw.  
  
She opened her eyes slightly, to find him peering at her through heavy lashes. It  
almost broke her heart to glimpse the indecision and hesitation on his face, the fear  
lurking in those beautiful hazel orbs.  
  
Max thrust her hands to either side of his head, tangling her hands in the silken  
threads of his hair, angling his face to her own. His breath fanned her gently; she felt his  
hands move slowly, tentatively to her hips.  
  
He closed the slight distance between them, and kissed her softly, almost  
gingerly. His mouth featherlight against her own. He pressed his forehead gently to her  
own, and she heard his breathing coming more raggedly now.  
  
Their mouths twined once more, testing one another. Max slipped her hand  
around to the back of his neck, her fingers grasping restlessly for his hair, tracing the  
lines of his bar code.  
  
He gripped her harder, more assuredly, his lips opening slightly beneath hers.   
Mouth caressing hers slowly, luxuriously, all his movements slow and delicious.   
  
She pressed herself hard into him, one hand untangling from his hair to trace the  
hard, taut muscles of his abdomen. His heart hammered erratically beneath her palm,  
fluttering wildly against silky fingertips as she drifted up his chest.  
  
A sudden clearing of the throat from the kitchen entrance thrust them both apart,  
panting and flushed.  
  
"Am I interrupting something?"  
  
  
  
*Yes. Yes you are interrupting something.* Alec thought irritably, running a hand  
through his tousled hair as Max ripped herself from his arms.  
  
"Logan!" she croaked, eyes widening.  
  
He stood just within the entrance, face impassive, cerulean gaze turbulent as he  
stroked sleep from his eyes.   
  
"We weren't doing anything. Just talking." Max stammered, avoiding his gaze.  
  
Alec rolled his eyes, feeling anger surge in his chest. *Too late Max. Your lover  
boy saw us. Unless he's so desperate to believe that there's something left between you  
two that he'll buy a story about how you suddenly stopped breathing and I was trying to  
save your life by giving you mouth to mouth recusitation.*  
  
"Huh." Logan muttered, eyeing Alec. "Talking. In some kind of morse code?   
Sharing top secret plans so clandestine that you had to use your tongues to pass the  
information along?"  
  
*There's something new. Logan being sarcastic. Didn't know he had it in him.*  
  
"Logan, I-"  
  
"Max you don't have to explain anything. You're with Alec now. You're...a  
couple." His voice caught slightly on the word. "I don't need an explanation."  
  
"Not anymore." Alec said, rising abruptly. He shot a veiled look at Max, her full  
lips swollen slightly from his kisses. "She's all yours, Logan. I don't want her anymore."  
  
*Not in love with him anymore my ass, Max.* he thought bitterly. *I'm sure you  
pulled away from me like I was on fire because you're not in love with him, and you  
don't care what he thinks.*  
  
"What?" Max demanded, her eyes confused and angry beneath thick lashes.   
"What are you talking about?"  
  
Logan shifted uncomfortably, his eyes darting between them.  
  
"I said, we're not a couple anymore. I think you can understand that. This is the  
break-up part of a relationship, honey."  
  
*I'm not going to be Logan's stand in. Or your fuck-at-leisure boy toy until  
Wonder Boy gets the cure to the virus and you two can eat your pasta and go at each  
other like animals.*  
  
"What the hell is your problem?" Max hissed, stepping to grasp him by the arm.   
  
He jerked out of her hold, ignoring the fire she thrust through him with her touch,  
turned his back, and walked away.  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
"Sugah, don't you evah do that to Original Cindy again, or she going to have to  
lay the smackdown on yo' ass. Logan told me 'bout ya little adventure beneath the  
sewers."  
  
Her arms closed hard around Max, thrusting the young woman's slender frame to  
her. Max smiled sadly and slipped her arms around OC's shoulders, returning the fierce  
embrace with equal fervor.  
  
"I'm fine now." she whispered.  
  
OC pulled back slightly, and Max glimpsed the shimmer of tears in her large dark  
eyes. "Ya better move yo' fine little transgenic ass a little sooner next time. Let the  
bullet hit yo' hot boy or somethin'."  
  
Max's eyes drifted automatically to Alec, who perched on the couch staring  
moodily at the TV, a brooding expression creasing his beautiful features. "He's already  
taken too many bullets for me."  
  
"I know, sugah. OC was just kiddin'. She ain't wantin' that boy hurt anymore  
than yo' do." Her gaze followed Max's to the young man. "Speaking of yo' hot boy,  
what's wrong with him? He looks like a little kid who just had his lollipop taken away."  
  
Max scowled. "I don't know what the hell his problem is. Wait, yes I do. He's a  
first class ass."  
  
Original Cindy lifted both eyebrows. "Trouble in paradise fo' the latest  
transgenic couple?"  
  
"We're not really a couple. I told you that was just a cover-up to get Logan off  
my back." She scowled again. "Or I should say we're not a couple period. Pretend or  
real."  
  
"Alec spilled yo' little secret?"  
  
"He didn't tell Logan I lied to him. But he 'broke up' with me in front of Logan.   
Right after we ki...uh, had a good talk, too."  
  
"Uh huh. Sure that was what you were just goin' ta' say."   
  
Max pulled Original Cindy into the kitchen with her, out of hearing range of a  
certain transgenic. "Yo' finally came to yo' senses and jumped the fine specimen, didn't  
ya?"   
  
"Cindy?"   
  
"Hey, Original Cindy can recognize a fine specimen of man when she sees one.   
Just 'cause she does, though, don't go thinkin' she 'bout to change sides or somethin';  
that sort of thing don't float her boat."  
  
Max leaned heavily against the countertop, crossing both arms over her chest. "I  
didn't jump him. We just...kissed. And then Logan walked in, and I pulled away from  
Alec, and while Logan's sitting in the background babbling about how I don't owe him  
an explanation because me and Alec are a couple and entitled to stuff like making out,  
blah, blah, blah, Alec tells him we're not a couple anymore. And then he walked off.   
Just like that."  
  
"How was it?"  
  
"Humiliating. Logan was just standing there staring at me, like he felt sorry for  
me or something, when-"  
  
"I meant the kiss, sugah."  
  
Max paused, and the silence descended to envelop them. She swallowed and  
looked away as OC's lips curved in a knowing smile.  
  
"Ya liked it, didn't ya, Boo?"  
  
"Yeah." Max whispered, not even bothering to lie. "I liked it. A lot." She lifted  
turbulent eyes to her friend. "But Cindy, this is Alec. Mr. One Night Stands, No Strings  
Attached. I don't want to get involved in something with him."  
  
Original Cindy studied Max closely, the young transgenic's beautiful features  
glowing in the ethereal light from the overhead bulbs. She shook her head slowly, tight  
curls rustling over smooth ebony flesh. "Sugah, I don't know if you've noticed, but that  
boy loves yo'. An' don't go lookin' at OC like that, 'cause she ain't never wrong. An'  
yo' boy Alec loves ya. Yo'. Max Guevera. Not Original Cindy, not some bonk buddy of  
his down at Crash."  
  
"Alec only loves himself." Max replied weakly.  
  
*His sobs penetrated her to the very core, harsh, wrenching sobs that trembled  
them both as he clutched her limp body against him.   
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
The soft, tender pressure of his lips against her temple, nestling in the silken fall  
of her hair. And the pleasant, heady warmth of his mouth on hers, touching briefly, his  
lips slick with tears.*  
  
Max squeezed her eyes shut.  
  
"Ya hurt his feelings. With that whole Logan catchin' yo' two playin' a round o'  
tonsil hockey, an' the way yo' just automatically pulled away from him. He don't want  
to be a replacement fo' Logan. He wants to be first."  
  
Max snuck a look at Alec.  
  
"OC, what do I do?" she whispered, sounding torn.  
  
"Tell him, sugah."  
  
Max's head whipped back around to her friend. "Tell him what?"  
  
"I think ya know what Original Cindy's talkin' 'bout, so don't go playin' dumb  
with me, Boo."  
  
  
  
The flesh of his brow rippled in a thousand lines of concentration. He hunched  
toward the glowing monitor, eyes perusing the screen before him, lips moving  
soundlessly.  
  
Permeating the uncomfortable silence, the soft drone of the TV drifted to lightly  
kiss his waiting ears, a cacophony of voices swirling to embrace his figure.  
  
He brushed a finger lightly over his stubble, the coarse hair rasping over flesh.  
  
Logan flicked a glance over his shoulder to the brooding Alec, one hand absently  
drumming a staccato rhythm against the computer desk.  
  
"You want something?" Alec asked without removing his eyes from the screen  
before him.  
  
"No." Logan replied quietly.  
  
"Just admiring my natural beauty. I get it." the transgenic returned easily, tone  
light, but something darker lurked beneath the forced carelessness of his voice.  
  
Standing to his right, a slender, manicured hand resting on the back of his  
computer chair, Asha shared a knowing look with Logan. "Max." the blond mouthed.  
  
Logan's muscles tensed automatically at mention of his ex's name.  
  
He returned to his work, fingers taking up their restless vigil once more.  
  
"There are no new leads regarding the six sector cops murdered just yesterday by  
a mysterious killer, but police promise they are doing everything in their power to find  
the man responsible."  
  
Alec reached for the remote and cranked the volume on the TV.  
  
Asha and Logan swiveled as one to face the X-5, undulations of light dancing  
across his face. "Whoa. Take a look at this."  
  
Two dark heads protruded from the kitchen at the sound of his voice. "What's  
going on?" Max said.  
  
He flicked a hand to the TV screen. "Some guy knocked off six sector cops. And  
a lady." His brows furrowed as he watched the news bulletin unravel before him. A look  
of recognition, and then grim reality spread his features.  
  
"Hover drone footage has confirmed that the killer possessed the great speed and  
superior strength known to the X-5 series of transgenics."  
  
"Shit." Max whispered, crossing to perch beside Alec on the couch, the earlier  
drama forgotten in their joint concern. "That guy who attacked me a few days ago..."  
  
"Might be him. The lady had her neck broken, and the throat ripped out. Sounds  
like the work of a possible psycho transgenic." Alec agreed.  
  
"You were attacked?" Logan broke in, his gaze flicking to Max.  
  
"When I was gassing up my bike the other night. Some guy came out of nowhere  
and just started going at me. I saw his barcode before he took off."  
  
"There was a woman found a few nights ago, while you and Alec were missing.   
Killed the same way as this one; neck broken, throat ripped out. There must be a  
connection." Asha said.   
  
"Some fool transgenic's loose in the city on a killin' spree? As if yo' two don't  
have enough trouble comin' fo' yo' kind."   
  
"We have to find this guy. There's enough shit going on between transgenics and  
norms as it is. A transgenic killer going around snapping necks and ripping out throats  
isn't exactly going to ease the animosity."  
  
"Max, it's dangerous for you to be out now. The police know what you look like,  
they know that you're a transgenic. And you can bet that as soon as the cops have you in  
custody, White will know." Logan protested. She felt his intense gaze searing through  
her.  
  
"Well we can't just leave him out there to keep killing people!"   
  
"The police don't know what I look like." Alec intervened, holding up a hand.  
  
"Sugah, in case ya forgot, yo' ass was just arrested not too long ago."  
  
"That's been cleared up. I can do a little snoopin' around at night for this guy.   
No one will notice."  
  
"What about White? He's got it out for you too-at least he wants me alive to find  
out where his son is. He'll just shoot your ass on sight. It's too dangerous for you to be  
out by yourself."  
  
"I think I can manage without you to hold my hand, mommy Max." he returned  
sarcastically, crossing his arms.  
  
"Look, just because you can't set a foot outside without screwing up and landing  
your ass in trouble, don't bitch at me. I was just stating a fact."  
  
"I don't need you to come to my rescue. I can handle myself if White shows up.   
And I'm not on Seattle's Top Ten Most Wanted list."  
  
"You'll get yourself killed, Alec. Would you like me to count how many times  
I've had to bail your ass out of trouble? Oh wait-we don't have all day. And if you'll  
remember, your last encounter with White ended with a bomb in your head, and me  
paying some greasy little nerd scientist five grand to take it out."  
  
"Well we all realize that you're perfect, Max, but-"  
  
"Hold it, yo' two. Time out, children. Original Cindy stoppin' this bitch now  
before yo' two take out one another's eyes."  
  
Max surged to her feet, palms clenched to fists at her sides. "Tonight, I'm going  
after this guy. We can't afford to wait any longer." She cast a defiant look around.   
"Anybody got anymore arguments?"  
  
"I-"  
  
"You-"  
  
"Yes-"  
  
"Boo-"  
  
"Shut up!" she yelled over the creshendoing voices. "I said I was going after  
him. When I asked if anyone had anymore arguments, it was a rhetorical question. I'm  
going after him no matter what anyone says."  
  
"Max, we've already lost you once in the past twenty-four hours. It could happen  
all-too-easily again-and this time there might not be some miracle take place to bring you  
back." Logan protested heatedly.  
  
"Logan, give it up. She's got you so whipped anyway, I'm surprised you're even  
bothering to argue with the Great One." Alec scoffed.  
  
Max glared at him. "Shut up!"  
  
Original Cindy glanced between them as they stared one another down for a  
moment. *There enough sparks between those two to start a damn fire. Let's just hope it  
don't blow up in their fine little faces.* 


	15. Bullets

A/N: I'm a bad, bad person for not putting this up sooner, as it's been finished for quite some time now. Hit me, throw things, whatever you need to do. Oh, and if you can find it within your heart to forgive me, you might want to leave a review to persuade me to get the next chapter up faster than I did this one. It's written too; it's just a matter of spell-checking it and putting it in correct format. So people, show me the love! You know you want to! Also, if you think Logan's theory on Max coming back to life doesn't fit with something seen on the show, it's just a theory. I'm not saying he's right and I'm not saying he's wrong, 'cause I'm still working out some theories myself.  
  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine...blah blah blah...Dark Angel belongs to James Cameron, Charles Eglee, and Fox, blah blah blah...do we understand each other?  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Fourteen  
_______________________________________________________________  
Bullets  
  
  
  
Streets  
Seattle, Wa., September 14th, 2021  
  
  
  
Undulating shadows shifted and elongated to caress her shapely figure; ebony fog  
clinging to each supple curve. Alec felt his eyes stray inevitably to her crouching body,  
to linger over the silken profile of her face, his fingers crying out in memory of that satin  
flesh whispering beneath them. His gaze darted to her full lips, the sumptuous, seductive  
flesh edged in the silver brilliance of the moon.  
  
"Quit looking at me." she hissed.   
  
His jaw tightened. "Fine, Your Highness. Sorry I dared to do somethin' without  
your permission."  
  
"I can't believe I let you come with me."   
  
"Let me come with you? Just little tag-along Alec, huh?" he whispered back,  
darting his gaze to the ground far below. "Well, gee, Max, sorry to be such a bother. I  
mean, I wouldn't want to hinder your efforts in any way. Maybe I should just jump off  
the building, so you can watch my unworthy ass splatter all over the streets below."  
  
"At least it would provide a distraction." she returned.  
  
*Alec loves me? Yeah right. Sorry, OC, but I think you made a bad call on this  
one. The only thing the stupid jackass loves about me is his ability to annoy me.*  
  
"You know, it would be nice if you'd learn to appreciate me a little more, since I  
*am* out here helping you and all."  
  
"Shut up! Just shut up. If I have to be stuck listening to you yap the whole time,  
I'll push your ass over the side myself."  
  
"What good would that do you? Then your full body shield wouldn't be around  
to stop any bullets the cops decide to send our way."  
  
"I can take care of myself, thank you." she snapped tightly, clenching one hand to  
a white-knuckled fist. "I don't need you to try and play the knight in shining armor part."   
  
"Yeah, because you're the professional at dodging bullets, right, Max? Just like  
the recent episode down in the sewers, when you dodged that bullet so well that you  
brought yourself right back into its path again."  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"And of course, that other time in Jam Pony when White and his trigger-happy  
apes would have pumped you full of lead if a certain someone hadn't-"  
  
"Shut. Up!" Max ground out between clenched teeth. She thrust a hand out to  
clench the front of his jacket, slender fingers spasming to claws against rough material.   
His eyes widened slightly as she lunged close to him, their faces mere inches apart.   
"We're splitting up."  
  
"Max-"  
  
"We are *splitting up*. Get it? This is the break-and-go-off-on-your-own part of  
the mission, *honey*."  
  
"It will take longer to find this guy if we split up. Why can't we just-"  
  
She flashed him a disgusted look. "We can't because you're an annoying asshole  
who's getting on my nerves and your very presence is making my skin crawl.   
Understand?"  
  
"Your skin is probably crawling because you haven't washed it and its infested  
with lice. Shouldn't blame bad hygiene on me, Max."  
  
She pushed him away and rose, scowling. "Don't do anything stupid."  
  
He smirked and crossed his arms. "From talking about how you'd like to push my  
ass off the side of the building to warning me to be careful. Your concern touches me."  
  
"You're touched in the head!" she snapped. "I didn't say 'Be careful' I said  
'Don't do anything stupid.' I don't want the cops knowing there are two transgenics  
lurking in the shadows, and if you haven't forgotten, they still know what I look like."  
  
"So this is all about protecting your own ass? What happened to all that  
do-gooder, save-fellow-man shit Logan's been feeding you?"  
  
"Fuck off." Max whispered, and blurred into the darkness.  
  
"Love you too, sweetheart." he murmured, a touch of bitterness thrumming his  
vocal cords.  
  
  
  
She climbed silently, clinging gracefully to the side of the building as she  
descended, hands and feet groping automatically for firm hold in the brick. A light  
breeze rippled over her body as she approached ground level, lifting the dark curtain of  
hair as a silken banner.  
  
The chill of night pressed close, like an eager lover, thrusting fingers of ice all  
through her. She shivered lightly and burrowed deeper into her jacket, its bloodstained  
exterior grisly but adequate in warding out the unwelcome cold.  
  
Above, faraway stars gleamed as forgotten diamonds in the barren wasteland of  
ebony sky.  
  
She tilted her head to contemplate them, still working her way steadily  
downward, muscles trembling slightly with the stress of holding her weight up. The  
minute flashes of silver quivering above somehow seemed to  
calm her tumultuous thoughts, to slightly ease the feelings of hostility bubbling within  
her chest.  
  
His face drifted before her, and her gaze sought once more the brief flame of  
emotion within hazel orbs, her mind seeking to identify it.  
  
*Hurt.* a voice whispered from the deepest recesses of her mind. *You hurt him.*  
  
"Fuck off." She heard her voice whisper harshly once more, and squeezed her  
eyes shut for a moment. "Be careful. Don't get yourself killed." she'd longed to say,  
and instead, this, such a cold and callous remark, had slipped from between her lips  
before she could stop it.  
  
*I didn't mean it.* Max thought. *I'm sorry, Alec. I didn't mean it.*  
  
Her boots merged with pavement in a soft thud. Releasing the wall, Max dropped  
soundlessly to shining blacktop and crouched, scanning pacing shadows for sign of life.  
  
Nothing.  
  
Letting out a slow breath of relief, she straightened, her ears catching the soft  
footsteps of a nearby sector cop. She pressed herself hard into the wall, listening. His  
restless pacing spoke of boredom and fatigue, and no accompanying voices rose to chide  
him for paying less-than-stellar attention to his surroundings.  
  
*No problem.*  
  
Blurring, she rounded the building opposite him, melding as one with the night.  
  
Her lithe body dissipated into the surrounding night, swallowed hungrily by  
prowling darkness, but not before she snuck a quick glance over one shoulder, at the  
muscular figure crouched on the building's roof.  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
The grating weighed heavily against hands slick with perspiration.  
  
He peered apprehensively down into blackness, a lump crusting his throat as the  
putrid stench of the sewers curled to embrace his waiting figure. He knew the sewers had  
become Transgenic Central, the safest place for the freaks to hide, but recent memories  
froze his body to the spot. The scent of blood still clung thick to the air; whether a smell  
conjured by his overactive mind or real, Alec couldn't be sure, but its presence taunted  
him all the same.  
  
With a grunt, he slammed the cover back into place, images of a bloodied, lifeless  
Max haunting him.  
  
*Shit.* he thought, exhaling shakily.  
  
He couldn't venture back down into the depths beneath the city, not so soon  
after...  
  
*Stupid bitch.* The thought came without the malice he'd intended. *Why the hell  
do you make me care? I don't want to, dammit! I want to go on watching my own back  
and not worrying about anyone else.*  
  
Alec thrust both hands into jacket pockets and started briskly off, moving with the  
lightness of a cat stalking prey. He sensed life nearby; smelled the warmth of body heat.   
  
A car hissed past, lifting a veil of water from the roadway, spattering his lean  
figure with droplets of cold liquid.   
  
"Jerk." he muttered beneath his breath, forcing thoughts of Max aside, tensing in  
anticipation as the warmth grew nearer.  
  
The soft thunk of boots on cement, further augmented by his enhanced senses,  
transcended the far-off blare of angry horns. Alec blurred to the safety of a nearby alley,  
and waited tensely as the footsteps drifted quietly past.  
  
*"Don't take anyone out unless you absolutely have to. Got it?"* Max's orders as  
they'd headed out. He'd felt obliged to argue in keeping with the  
let's-bitch-at-one-another-as-much-as-we-possibly-can spirit of the evening, but there had  
never really been any defiance. He wasn't too keen on attracting unwanted attention  
either; to himself or to Max. Especially to Max, after what had happened only yesterday.  
  
*Three strikes and you're out.* he thought grimly, picking his way carefully back  
into the open. *Be careful, dammit, would you Max?*  
  
  
  
The scowl creasing hard features eased slightly as the door to his office thrust  
aside to welcome the figure of a man. His fingers stilled against the paper he'd been  
reading only moments before. "Yes, Otto?"  
  
"Sir, we received this footage from a hoverdrone passing over Sector 3 about a  
minute ago." He slipped a glossy photograph across the desk to White.  
  
White perused the grainy quality of the picture eagerly, immediately recognising  
the features of the man depicted. "494." he growled, a scowl tightening his lips once  
more. "Good work, Otto."  
  
"Thank you, sir."  
  
White's fingers drifted to the pistol belted at his right hip, hand caressing chill  
metal in an almost loving gesture. "Get a team together. Now. It's time to bring in a  
little bargaining material for 452."  
  
  
  
*Snake blood.*  
  
The thought had come to him nearly two hours before, an answer to the  
ever-elusive reason as to what had really happened down in the sewers yesterday. Max  
dying from a severe gunshot, and then coming back to the world just like that...He didn't  
deny his vast relief at not losing her, but nothing about the situation made sense. There  
had been no 'sibling' to offer his heart in an effort to save Max, only a distraught Alec  
and no medical equipment to speak of.  
  
*Snake blood.* The two words skittered briefly through Logan's mind again, and he  
spun to his computer, fingers dancing over the keyboard. The snake blood Max absorbed  
from that knife wound when White and his familiars captured her...It was possible that  
there was some sort of antibody in there that had saved her. But if the snake blood had  
brought her back to life, that meant White and his creepy followers were walking around  
pumped full of that shit...essentially invincible.  
  
*Not good. Not good at all.*   
  
He reached for the phone beside him, a growing feeling of unease hollowing his  
stomach, and, thumbing the 'on' button, dialled swiftly.  
  
  
  
He'd appeared out of nowhere, surprising the shit out of her. One moment found  
her creeping slowly through desecrated ruins of a once remarkable skyscraper, its  
magnificence levelled by the Pulse, and the next she found herself suddenly face to face  
with a startled-looking cop. He paused, shocked by the abrupt appearance of this  
dark-haired young woman before him. His fingers tightened around the machine gun he  
clutched, flesh shimmering bone-white in the darkness.   
  
"Hey-"  
  
Max's fist caught him on the jaw, thrusting him backwards, the weapon slipping  
from his fingers and thudding softly to the rubble beneath their feet. He staggered  
against a nearby wall, crying out, before a violent blow from her boot dropped him like a  
rock.  
  
"Stupid bastard." she whispered softly, crouching to unclip the radio dangling  
from his belt.   
  
She ground it beneath one foot, the audible crunch drawing a wince from her.  
  
Moonlight shimmered between minute cracks and ragged holes adorning the  
exterior of the building, the illumination waning as it sought entrance and found only  
solid cement. Outside, the faraway screech of tires on slick pavement assaulted her ears.  
  
*Someone's in a hurry.* she thought, shrugging lightly and moving on deeper into  
the building's ruins. Rubble shifted and cracked beneath her feet, protesting against this  
disturbance. She walked lightly, alert, eyes darting to each shadow, perusing its depths.  
  
*I just want to catch this guy and get back to Logan's.* Something about this night  
held a lingering sense of danger. A growing sense of disconcertment uncoiled within her  
gut which she couldn't seem to shake.  
  
*Alec.* His name trickled briefly through her mind. *That idiot better be ok. I'll  
kick his ass if he's gotten himself caught.* She wouldn't put it past him; Alec and trouble  
just naturally seemed to go together. *But I've already lost Joshua...I can't lost him too.*   
she thought, fresh tears stinging her eyelids.  
  
Bile seared the inside of her throat; Max felt her stomach heave, alive with  
disturbed stomach acids. *I shouldn't have just left him. God knows what he's managed  
to do by now.* Pausing, she shook her head fiercely, clearing his image from her mind.   
*What the hell am I doing, worrying about him like some kind of goddamned mother hen?   
Alec can take care of himself.*   
  
  
  
*Oh shit.*  
  
The gun barrel lashed him across the jaw, with enough force to stagger him  
sideways. He recovered quickly, thrusting a vicious sidekick into the cop's gut, doubling  
the man over with a gasp of rapidly expelled air.  
  
His fingers probed the blossoming patch of dark as the cop recovered, a frown  
tugging his full lips.  
  
"You know, I'm really getting sick of people smacking me around." Alec  
muttered, and slammed a hard fist into the side of the man's head, putting him down for  
good.  
  
Rainwater and fresh gore leapt thick into the air as the cop slumped at Alec's feet,  
gun skittering across the pavement.  
  
*"Don't take anyone out unless you absolutely have to. Got it?"* Her voice  
reverberated throughout his head.  
  
"He started it." Alec said aloud, absently caressing the knuckles of his right hand.   
*And now I've got a bruise the size of fucking Texas on my chin, and it's not like anyone's  
going to kiss it better. Especially not Max, considering she's the source of half my  
bruises. Ok, more like 3/4 of them.*  
  
The shrill, dissonant cry of his cell phone suddenly rent the air. Alec fumbled for  
it with fingers grown slightly stiff with cold, another little frown curving his lips when he  
recognised Logan's number.  
  
*Probably calling to tell Max to 'Be careful.'*  
  
"Logan, how nice to hear from you, pal. I was just thinking to myself how much I  
missed the sound of your voice."  
  
"Alec, where's Max?"  
  
*Psychic. I'm freakin' psychic.*  
  
"Dunno, buddy."  
  
Static popped and crackled between them for a moment. Then, Logan's voice  
intervened once more, slightly incredulous and a lot agitated. "What do you mean  
'dunno'? Isn't she with you?"  
  
"Nah. Queen Max commanded that we split up. Couldn't handle herself around  
me-probably afraid she'd jump me and we wouldn't be able to go about our job. I know  
we just broke up and all, but it's obvious to anyone how much the woman still wants  
me." Alec replied, his voice radiating a lightness he didn't feel.  
  
"Do you know where she went?"  
  
"Not a clue. She could be halfway to California now for all I know."  
  
"You guys don't have a rendezvous point or something?"  
  
"Ah...no. Guess she was just planning to hook up back at your place and compare  
notes there. Listen, Logan, much as I love your witty conversation, this isn't exactly  
helping to catch the psycho freak running around eating women-maybe even little kids.   
Think about the people of Seattle, Log-you're their crusader or somethin' aren't you? So  
shouldn't you be hanging up right about now so I can-"  
  
"I really need to talk to Max."  
  
Alec felt the muscles in his jaw tightening in irritation. "Look, I said I don't  
know where she is. You're just going to have to wai-"  
  
The agitated squeal of rubber on blacktop screamed through the night. His head  
whipped up to glimpse a white van swerve across the empty lanes of traffic, toward the  
sidewalk where he stood.  
  
"Fuck!" he yelled, and blurred to escape being flattened beneath the tires.   
  
"Alec. Alec!"  
  
His back thrust hard against a brick wall, eyes widening as the doors to the  
vehicle thrust open and several men in black combat gear poured out, guns surging to  
target him.  
  
*What the hell is this?*  
  
"494. How nice to see you again."  
  
  
  
"Alec! Alec, answer me!" Logan yelled into the receiver.   
  
A pained grunt, and the thud of a body against cement rippled over their connection.  
  
"Alec!"  
  
A shot exploded his ears, ringing painfully loud.  
  
The line went dead in his hand, erupting in meaningless static.  
  
A/N 2: Another cliffhanger! Hee! I'm so evil. 


	16. Old Enemies

A/N: Eek! I thought I'd only left this a couple of weeks, and the I happened to look at the date on when I'd last updated this thing, and realized I'd left you guys hanging for a month! Bad me! Bad bad bad! This has been ready to go for a while; I've just had a bout of laziness. Feel free to throw sharp objects.  
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. Dark Angel still belongs to Fox, James Cameron, and Charles Eglee. But maybe if I plan out some big, complicated theft, I can finally get Dark Angel for my own. Of course, said big, complicated theft would require planning...Ah, screw it.  
Chapter Fifteen  
___________________________________________________________________________  
Old Enemies  
Streets  
Seattle, Wa., September 14th, 2021  
The fading smell of gunpowder seared his nostrils.  
  
Its acrid stench tainted the air, overpowering the fresh sweetness of clinging  
rainwater.  
  
At his feet, the body of the man he'd attacked lay cooling in the rain.   
  
His gaze twined as one with Ames White's, eyes dropping to contemplate the  
pistol barrel trained on his chest. Slowly, knowing any abrupt movements would surely  
coerce White into pulling the trigger, Alec pocketed his cell phone and lifted both hands  
in the air.  
  
White smirked. "Didn't expect to see me again so soon, 494?"  
  
"Ah, you know." Alec shrugged. "I really could have done without seeing your  
ugly face."  
  
"Well, maybe if you cooperate, I'll be nice and end that particular pleasure." He  
gestured with his weapon to the ragged hole in the brick only an inch to Alec's left.   
"That was a warning. The next time I won't miss."  
  
"I suppose you're sparing my life because you want to know where Max is."  
  
"Capturing 452 does happen to be on my to-do list. I figured you might be able to  
help me out."  
  
"Now isn't that always the case? Everyone wants Max. No one ever pays any  
attention to me. It's like I'm invisible or somethin'. Breaks my heart. I thought that *you*,  
at least, would be courteous enough to just want me for me, and not because you're  
trying to get to Max."  
  
"Where's the bitch, 494?" White thundered, the tenuous hold he had over his  
temper snapping.  
  
"I'd say 'I don't know', but you probably wouldn't believe me." Alec shrugged  
again. "So I'll say it anyway: I don't know."  
  
White's face darkened ominously. He lowered his weapon, and strode  
purposefully toward the young transgenic, muscles undulating powerfully beneath the  
suit he wore. "Maybe you didn't hear me. Where is 452?"  
  
"Who knows? We hardly talk anymor-"  
  
Moonlight glinted off steel; White's pistol caught Alec across the left cheekbone,  
slashing flesh. He raised tender fingers to the gash, bringing them away glistening with  
crimson.  
  
"Did you hear me? I asked you a question!" White screamed.  
  
A tiny smile quirked Alec's lips, even as fear lurked deep within his eyes. "What  
was that? Sorry, didn't hear you."  
  
The next blow opened the smooth flesh of his temple. He stumbled backward  
with the force, a tiny gasp of pain parting full lips.  
  
As the gun flashed in the illumination of the moon once more, Alec blurred to  
meet it, snatching White's wrist, thrusting it back until the crack of bone ascended into  
the sky. The weapon clattered against slick pavement, and already he was moving again,  
aiming a powerful round kick at the man's head.  
  
"Don't shoot!" White screamed as a rifle boomed behind him. "Don't shoot,  
dammit! I want this goddamned bastard alive."  
  
"You're gonna' either have to take me dead, or pack up your pretty van there and  
move it out." Alec said, and landed a hard blow to White's abdomen. He shoved the  
man backward, into one of the dark-garbed figures lurking nearby, spilling them both to  
the ground.  
  
Another shot rent the air despite White's orders, its echoing thunder stretching  
long into the night.  
  
Alec cartwheeled, and surged into the air with a well-placed front-kick to the man  
nearest him, knees bending to absorb the impact of his landing, his right foot leaving the  
ground almost simultaneously as he turned in a vicious spinning kick.  
  
A boot grazed his ribs, plunging Alec against the side of the van, rocking the  
entire vehicle. He blurred to the right as a fist descended upon him, thrusting his forearm  
up to block it. His free arm swung around to break the man's nose with a violent elbow  
to the face, exploding pale flesh in shimmering gore.  
  
"Get him, dammit! Don't let that fucking animal get away!"  
  
Alec downed another of the bastards with a blow to the temple, and, muscles  
bunching, thrust himself straight up, several feet over their heads, turning a backflip in  
mid-air and landing atop the van roof. He leapt down to the hood, landed gracefully, and  
blurred into the night, his feet treading air for a single moment before gravity plunged  
him back to the earth.  
  
White rose without warning before him, glowing as a spirit beneath the effulgent  
light of the moon, his hard, muscular body edged in silver illumination.   
  
Alec had a single moment to glimpse the descending weapon, before it slammed  
into the side of his head, spinning him sideways, hurling his body to the rain-dampened  
blacktop.  
  
The bitter tang of blood clung thick to his lips; he probed the liquid with his  
tongue, tasting its acidity.   
  
"Fuck." he murmured, rolling onto one elbow.  
  
A hard thrust of White's foot dropped him once more. Alec felt his heart  
hammering against his ribcage, adrenaline surging through every nerve end, his entire  
body on fire with anxiety.   
  
"So, 494, had a change of heart yet?"  
  
"If you mean, will I rat out Max, then no."  
  
"You're a moron. That worthless bitch can't be worth what I'm going to put you  
through." White snarled.  
  
*Don't bet on it. Besides, while I'm sure your sadistic little brain is coming up  
with some nasty torture methods, I doubt you've thought of castration. And my boys  
would probably be the first thing Max went for if I ever betrayed her.*  
  
"How about we make a deal." Alec offered, peering up at his tormentor through  
softly falling rain. "You let me go so I don't have to exert myself by bashing your face  
into the cement, and we both go happily on our ways."  
  
"How about you bring 452 to me or I kill you."  
  
Alec shrugged. "Well I'm afraid in that case the answer would have to be a big  
'Fuck you, White.'"  
  
White's lips turned up in a humourless smile. "No thanks, 494. I'm not keen on  
reproducing with animals."   
  
"I'm not keen on reproducing with psychotic maniacs who feel the need to point  
their gun at my head, so I guess we're even. Then again, I'm not keen on reproducing with men, anyway, so  
either way you're out of luck."  
  
"This is cute, 494, but we're wasting time. Are you going to bring 452 to me? Or  
do we have to do this the hard way?"  
  
"Well I thought I already gave you the answer to that particular question, but  
maybe you're hard of hearing or somethin', so out of the goodness of my heart I'll say it  
again: 'Fuck you.'"  
  
White's fingers trembled around the weapon he clutched, his eyes narrowing as a  
red haze of anger frosted the world before him in carmine glaze.   
  
Alec smirked, and struck, blurring to sweep the man's feet out from beneath him.  
  
The world exploded into blackness.  
  
She stumbled backward, only her transgenic reflexes saving her from a nasty  
plunge. Her chin throbbed beneath the power of his hit, already aching as she raised  
tender fingers to examine the smooth flesh.  
  
He stood before her, motionless, the slight wind tousling dark hair as he  
contemplated her shapely figure. His eyes shamelessly roamed lithe curves, a menacing  
smirk curving full lips as his gaze lingered over her body.  
  
"You son of a bitch." Max hissed, dropping into fighting stance as he pocketed  
both hands within the tatters of the beaten leather jacket he wore.  
  
"I never got to repay you the favor of that bloody nose you gave me. And the  
broken arm."  
  
"Thought you looked familiar." she said as he began to circle. "You're that freak  
who jumped me at the gas station. The one who's been getting his kicks going on killing  
sprees."  
  
"Now would I do something like that?" he asked, eyes shimmering maniacally  
beneath soft moonlight.  
  
Their shadows thrashed and danced over the building's roof, twining as one, then  
fracturing as the two circled, seeking entrance to the other's weakness.  
  
"Why the hell are you doing this? You think they don't hate us enough? Why  
give them another reason to want to kill us?" Max demanded, eyebrows knitting as she  
watched him closely.  
  
His muscles undulated powerfully beneath the mud-stained remnants of his  
garments. He may have been killing people, but he certainly wasn't raiding their bodies  
after the deed was done-or at least he wasn't investing the money wisely, such as clean  
clothes and a place to shower.  
  
Even so, he exuded sex appeal, much the same as the others belonging to the  
X-series. But beneath the thickness of dark lashes lurked something sinister and  
dangerous, a writhing madness alive within his gaze.  
  
He smelled of blood. The scent curled her nostrils against its bitterness. It clung  
to each curve of his, imbedded forever within his being, a lingering presence reminding  
of his sins.  
  
She lunged for him as he parted his lips to speak, closing his mouth again with a  
hard thrust of one fist.  
  
"Bitch." he snarled, his face tensing in a scowl.  
  
Max felt fear uncoil within her stomach as she sensed his insanity, sensed the  
feral aura of this pacing animal before her.  
  
He surged forward to meet her.  
  
She turned her body to absorb the impact, and felt his hard body pressed all along  
hers for a single moment, before her smaller figure acquiesced to his force and plunged  
backward, over the edge of the building.  
* * *  
The jarring impact thrust undulations of pain all throughout her.   
  
Her ears hummed with the soft thud of his landing. Her senses filled with his  
scent, its unpleasantness curling to embrace Max as she struggled to her knees.  
  
He kicked her down, and thrust himself on top of her, his jean-clad thighs  
tightening around her body as he pinned her beneath his larger mass. "This is really too  
bad." he said, leaning in close, until she could feel his breath rippling across her face.   
"You're a bitch, but you're a sexy one. I almost hate to kill you. Maybe we should have  
a good, long, hard fuck before I slit your throat, huh? It's been a while since I got any."  
  
"Maybe that's because the smell of your breath drives off any whores who might  
want to give you a go for the night." Max retorted, thrashing beneath him.  
  
He plunged his teeth into her neck; not merely sampling the flesh, as a fervent  
lover might, but drawing blood with his ferocity. His tongue flicked out to clean the  
glistening drops from her neck, the liquid lying stagnant within his mouth as he savored  
it.  
  
"This is what I do to my victims." he whispered into her ear. "I rip their throats  
out, so I can taste the blood. I lure them with the promise of sex, then kill the bitches  
before they can even get all their clothes off."   
  
"How sad for you." she said, vocal cords thrumming with mock sympathy.   
"Maybe you should fuck them first and then kill them. Satisfy your manly urges and  
killer instincts all in one."  
  
"Maybe. I could start with you. At least you'd die happy, huh?"  
  
"I've had better offers." she replied, and arched upward with all her strength,  
heaving him free of her body.  
  
He rolled over one shoulder, thrusting out both hands to push himself up, the  
rain-slick pavement shredding flesh. He spun to face her, panting, hands curving to hard  
fists.  
  
"Let me give you some advice; next time you're toying with the idea of raping a  
girl and then killing her, make sure she's not genetically-engineered."  
  
Max booted him in the nose; flesh and bone gave way in a sickening crunch.   
Crimson spray leapt thick into the air.  
  
"Shit!" he screamed, raising both hands to staunch the flowing liquid.  
  
She surged forward in a spinning kick that knocked him flying. He stumbled  
across the glistening pavement, the gore twining his face shimmering beneath the  
moonlight.  
  
Max snapped her leg up and sideways, toward his taut abdomen.  
  
He dodged, twisting her leg viciously as his hand closed around her foot.  
  
She cried out and plunged her fist into his chest, thrusting the breath from his  
body.   
  
They drew back, both gleaming with perspiration, throats pulsing in rapid breaths.   
  
A single gunshot shattered the night's stillness, and in the echoes of its fading  
thunder, his name parted her lips in a frightened yell.  
  
"Alec!"  
The bullet, fired at nothing more than indistinct shadows, exploded the front  
window of the van. Alec raised his hands against the ensuing spray of glass, grunting in  
pain as his palms received the froth of broken window shards.  
  
He clenched both hands to hard fists, ignoring the streams of crimson twining  
between his fingers as he blurred for his nearest attacker.  
  
And her voice echoed within his hypersensitive ears.  
  
Alec froze, his head whipping around to peer wide-eyed in the direction the shout  
had originated. *Shit.*  
  
His heartbeat began to flutter against heaving ribs, beating wildly in terror.   
  
Gleaming eyes sought his figure; he glimpsed recognition in the madness of  
White's gaze, and a sadistic pleasure that ran cold the very blood surging through Alec's  
veins.  
  
He hurled himself into their midst, fists and feet blurring, fighting like a cornered  
animal as White screamed orders. They fell before him, frightened and bleeding, their  
terror thickening the very atmosphere.  
  
Rough, heavy hands descended on him; Alec thrust them aside, booting away the  
guns aimed in his direction.   
  
But there were too many. Too many for even an X-5 to conquer.  
She spun in the direction of the gunshot, heart pumping in terror.  
  
"Alec!" Her throat closed around his name, fear stilling the breath within her  
lungs. "Shit."  
  
He moved swiftly, taking advantage of her distraction, his fist thrusting her jaw  
with strength sufficient to put an ordinary down for good.  
  
Max stumbled backward, hands surging upward once more, her right leg thrusting  
up to boot him in the groin in the same movement. The soft thwack of her foot merging  
with flesh rang through the night air.  
  
"Oh shit!" he screamed, clutching himself as his knees buckled. "You bitch!"  
  
She nailed him with a right hook, driving his face up to peer into swirling  
mahogany orbs.   
  
"What did you call me?"  
  
"I said 'You bitch.'" he snarled, breathing raggedly.  
  
"Shouldn't have done that." Max murmured, and smashed a powerful round kick  
into his head.  
  
He fell to lie still and bleeding against wet pavement, his face glistening beneath  
a layer of crimson.  
  
She kicked him once more for good measure, then turned, and blurred into the  
surrounding night.  
They held him back, using every ounce of strength to restrain Alec as he thrashed  
desperately. He arched against the gun barrels rammed cruelly into his back, lashing out  
with his feet, his hands...his efforts always in vain as they prevailed and tightened iron  
grips across his shoulders.  
  
He heard the whoosh of a body moving at superhuman speed through the night,  
the resounding thud of her feet as she drew near.  
  
White's cold smirk thrust icy tremors of fear down his spine.  
  
"Let me go! Let me *go*!" Alec snarled.  
  
"Leaving, 494? Too bad. It sounds like 452 is coming just in time to join the  
party."  
  
"Leave Max the hell alone, White."  
  
"I don't take orders from transgenic scum." He motioned with the barrel of his  
gun toward the waiting van. "Load him in. He might provide a little entertainment  
before he dies, and I'm sure seeing me cut into her boyfriend will be good incentive for  
452 to cooperate."  
  
*Shit. Dammit!* Alec screamed silently, fighting them all the way as White's  
companions dragged the unwilling man away. He forced an arm free, driving his elbow  
back into bone.  
  
A man's agonized scream pierced the night.   
  
"494!" White roared, raising his gun.  
  
Alec grasped for the body nearest him, and flung the shrieking man into the  
bullet's oncoming path. Metal seared flesh, tearing through bone and sinew, hurling the  
victim backward to sprawl limply over the hood of the van.  
  
He ducked again as White's gun exploded once more.  
  
Blood painted the ebony sky crimson; the man standing now in Alec's place  
crashed to lie motionless in the gory mud.  
  
*What the hell happened to not killing me?* Alec thought, springing into the air  
with the agility of a cat, his impressive jump carrying him over the heads of those who  
sought his panting figure with their gun barrels.  
  
He turned in a spinning kick, thrusting a dark clothed figure out of his path and  
into the van's side.  
  
And her voice rang out, above the shouting and chaos, above the lingering  
remnants of gunfire.  
  
"White."  
Alec squeezed his eyes shut and turned slowly, lashes fluttering open again to  
reveal the lithe curves of her body. She stood just behind White, hands curved to fists at  
her sides, her body glistening beneath a sheen of rainwater.  
  
"Max, no!" Alec screamed, the words slipping unbidden from full lips, terror  
lurking in his voice.  
  
Her eyes never strayed from the dark-suited figure before her. "Let him go. You  
don't want him-you're after me."  
  
White smiled coldly at Alec. "How sweet. 452-sacrificing herself for a worthless  
fuck-up like you."  
  
Alec felt strong hands close once more over his arms, but offered no struggle this  
time. He stood panting, going slack in their holds, fear driving his heart into his throat.   
"Max-"  
  
"Shut up." she ordered without so much as glancing in his direction.  
  
White lips curved in a smirk. He turned, slowly, his weapon surging upward.  
  
Max sensed his movement, and blurred to meet him. She knocked White's gun  
flying and drop-kicked him in the stomach, doubling the man over, then delivering a  
vicious chop to the back of his neck.   
  
"Alec!" Max yelled, and flung the fallen weapon toward him.  
  
White's lackeys, relaxing for a precious second as he stopped fighting, moved too  
slowly to retrieve him as he jerked himself from their holds and leapt to catch her  
offering.   
  
He spun in the same movement, suspended for a single moment in mid-air, his  
finger already closing hard on the trigger as his acrobatics thrust him around to face them  
once more.  
  
Their blood misted the night air, accompanied by the chilling shrieks of the dying.  
  
Alec fired until the gun clicked on empty, relentless in his slaughter, his aim  
deadly accurate as body after body fell to lie still and bleeding on the street.  
  
He turned to face Max, the pistol slipping from trembling fingers to splash against  
blood-slick pavement.  
  
They writhed and spun in a deadly dance, fists and feet blurring, punches and  
kicks landed too quickly for the human eye to follow.   
  
She fought dirty, Alec had to give her that. Ten years of training on her, and yet  
watching her trade blows with White, her small hands striking his face, his body with  
enough force to shatter bone, Alec recognized a worthy opponent.  
  
But the bastard couldn't feel pain. Thousands of years of selective breeding, all  
fine-tuned to this man, this monster who knew no physical agony.   
  
Alec winced as White thrust a knee into Max's abdomen. She doubled over at the  
waist, gasping, peering up at her nemesis through a curtain of dark hair.  
  
"You lose, 452." White snarled.  
  
And steel glinted beneath moonlight, a minuscule flash of silver in the ebony  
night.   
  
Alec lunged.  
  
His desperate leap brought them both down, to sprawl hard against damp  
pavement. Alec felt White's knife pass through his ribs, parting flesh and muscle,  
shredding the material of his T-shirt. He cried out, arching his back beneath the pain that  
screamed through his body, and lashed out instinctively with a forearm as the blade  
plunged toward his throat.  
  
The knife ripped through his biceps, darkening the sleeve of Alec's jacket with  
gore. He felt warmth ripple down his arm, felt the surge of bile within his throat, its  
acidic tang lying stagnant against his tongue.  
  
His fingers trembled against the knife handle, jerking it free of his body, only the  
smallest of grunts escaping his lips.  
  
White's body sagged limply against him.  
  
Alec looked up, blinking in stunned amazement at his saviour, her face rippling  
into hazy shadow before his eyes.  
  
"He's not dead, but maybe the headache he'll have when he wakes up will give  
him something to think about." Max said, shrugging. "Then again, maybe not."  
  
She crouched beside them, thrusting White unceremoniously to the side, her  
slender fingers gently cupping Alec's shoulder. "You all right?"  
  
He curved a large, quivering hand over her smaller one, his flesh resting cold  
against her own. "I don't think so." he said, and passed out.  
A/N 2: The next chapter to this is almost done, so that should be up within the next few days, plus I'm finishing up another standalone, and I've already got some ideas for my next WIP after this is finished. Don't worry; you guys haven't heard the last of me. ;) Promise I won't abandon this thing. 


	17. Lifeline

A/N: Ta da. Here we go. Chapter 16. Enjoy.  
Disclaimer: Sadly, I *still* don't own Dark Angel. It belongs to James Cameron, Charles Eglee, and Fox. But come on; does it really matter anymore? The show's cancelled.  
Chapter Sixteen  
_________________________________________________________________  
Lifeline  
Streets  
Seattle, WA., September 14, 2021  
He lay wan and still beneath the effulgent light of the moon, the handsome  
features of his face alive with undulating shadows. His palm bucked for a single moment  
against her own, a final twitch of resistance, and then his body lay silent. Only the gentle  
rise and fall of his chest indicated a sign of life.  
  
"Shit." Max murmured, slipping her hand from beneath his. She raised  
trembling fingers to her face, and found them dark and glistening beneath the crimson  
sheen of his internal fluids. Heart thundering within her ribcage, she gently flipped his  
palm over, and blanched at the sight of the dozen glass shards protruding from ragged  
flesh. "Shit, shit, shit! How the hell am I supposed to get this out? What do you think I  
am-a one-woman medic unit?" she griped softly.  
  
He shifted in unconsciousness, moaning lightly, his head dropping to loll weakly  
against wet pavement. Max slid a hand beneath him, cupping the base of his skull in  
blood-slick fingers, unconsciously stroking the fine strands of his hair as she supported  
him.  
  
Lying prone against the gory street, he looked heartbreakingly young, his features  
easing into serenity. A child who'd wandered into the center of a battlefield, and been  
cut down in the crossfire.  
  
Max's face softened as she looked down at him, and almost unbidden, she leaned  
down to gently kiss his forehead, cupping the curve of his cheekbone in a small palm.   
*Maybe I shouldn't bitch. He did save my ass, even if the only reason it was in trouble  
was because I had to come to his rescue once again.*  
  
His skin burned abnormally hot beneath her softly wandering fingertips, gliding  
wetly under her hand. His full lips parted in another moan, one that thrust Max's heart  
into her throat. She bent to kiss him again, this time touching her mouth lightly to his  
own, and hoisted his limp body into her arms.  
  
"Come on, pretty boy. Let's get you off the street before our psycho friend over  
there wakes up and decides the party's not over."  
* * *  
  
*Flashback*  
  
Carmine illumination seared his eye, thrusting to the very depths of his mind. He  
felt its cruel touch in the deepest recesses of his memory, tearing and probing with  
vicious fingers. Ripping away his sense of being, the forbidden and human emotions  
he'd begun to experience.  
  
He arched against his restraints, gnashing teeth clamping hard against the  
delicate flesh of his tongue. Blood foamed to his lips, the tang of vomit lurking thick  
within the unpleasant taste of his own gore. He felt the liquid traverse the slope of his  
jaw, clinging to the stubble darkening his chin.  
  
The scream tore itself unbidden from his lips, reverberating throughout the small  
room, echoing within his sensitive ears.  
  
He hadn't meant for them to make him scream. He'd endured the agony so  
silently, with hardly a whimper escaping his tortured soul, but now something deep  
within him broke, and he couldn't seem to stop.  
  
The laser probed deeper, carving a torturously lethargic path through his brain,  
thrusting harder, until he felt himself passing mercifully into blackness.  
  
*End flashback*  
  
He thrust into consciousness screaming.  
  
Max held him steady, cradling his head in her lap as he thrashed. His cries  
pierced her sensitive ears, shattering the stillness of the warehouse.  
  
She stroked damp hair from his forehead, her fingers moving softly against  
perspiration-soaked flesh. "Alec. Alec! Calm down. You're ok. It's me. It's Max."   
she whispered into his ear, caressing his cheek with the back of her hand.  
  
He quieted at her words, panting, his entire body trembling against hers as his  
head fell back to lie still in her comforting hands. His eyes flickered closed, the image of  
a red beam still taunting him.  
  
"Alec." She jostled him gently. "Say something."  
  
"Did you pay White off to stab me so you could use that as an excuse to hold my  
head in your lap?" he murmured weakly.  
  
"Oh God, you don't know how relieved I am to hear you being a dumb smartass."   
she said, exhaling shakily, one hand straying to his forehead once more.  
  
"Gee, Max, you always know just how to brighten my day." Alec drawled  
sarcastically. " 'Dumb smartass.' Isn't that kinda' a direct contradiction? You're calling  
me dumb, and then you're-"  
  
"Shut up." Her tone lacked its usual caustic snap. Instead, she sounded  
almost...concerned. He tilted his head to look her in the face, and glimpsed dark eyes  
glistening beneath a sheen of moisture.  
  
"I thought that damn knife might have some of that snake venom on it. The stuff  
that was supposed to kill me but didn't. When you weren't waking up...you kept shaking  
really bad, and you felt too hot. I thought you were dying."  
  
"Well now, Max, does that mean you were worried about me? You know what  
this means, don't you? You like me. I suspected it all along, but this just clinches it.   
First you bust me out of Manticore, and it's not like we even had sex and you wanted to  
be able to come back for seconds; I guess my animal magnetism was just too much for  
you to resist, huh? Then you save my ass from White, twice now, and Berrisford, who  
was lookin' to blow my brains out. Plus that whole molesting me in Logan's kitchen  
episode, and-"  
  
Her fist connected with the back of his head.  
  
"Hey!" he whined, rising slowly into sitting position, the effort tensing his  
features in a grimace of pain. "I *am* injured here, you know. And might I remind you  
just why I'm injured; because I jumped that son of a bitch while he was workin' you over,  
when I could have-"  
  
She grasped his head fiercely in both hands, pulling him roughly to her, her lips  
silencing him. He stiffened in surprise for a moment, then relaxed against her as her  
fingers began to sift the fine hairs at the nape of his neck, curving to cup the base of his  
skull.  
  
Her mouth ground briefly, almost violently against his own, tasting him,  
reassuring herself of his presence. She drew back only a moment later, and Alec's eyes  
fluttered slowly open. "What was that for?" he asked huskily.  
  
"You scared me, dammit." Max hissed, scowling at him. "And you're still  
bleeding."  
  
"You kissed me because I'm still bleeding? Well, Max, not that I'm complaining  
or anything, but if you were attempting to apply pressure using your tongue to stop the  
bleeding, you were putting it in the wrong place. Not that I'm protesting your method of  
course-"  
  
"Take off your jacket."  
  
"And now you're stripping me. I think we should wait until we at least get out of  
this cold old warehouse." he said, but weariness thickened his vocal cords, swallowing  
the usual smugness.   
  
"Take it off, 'cause you're not going to like that way I do it."  
  
"Oh, rough are we?"  
  
She glared silently, and he thrust up both hands in acquiescence. "Ok, ok. Stop  
tryin' to drill death lasers into my brain."   
  
"Do you feel ok?"  
  
"Yeah-like a million bucks. Some psycho maniac decided to get off on beating  
me with his gun, I put my hands up to protect my face when a bullet blew out the front  
windshield of that god-awful vehicle of White's and got a palmful of glass, and then the  
aforementioned maniac stabbed me twice. Feelin' just great, Max."  
  
"I meant you don't feel too hot or anything? Like you're running a fever? You  
don't feel sick?"  
  
Alec shrugged. "Just the burning pain in my arm, and my lips, where you ravaged  
me. But I'm not complainin' about that last part."  
  
"Then take off your jacket. I have to check and see how bad you're hurt." she  
replied, purposefully ignoring his last comment.  
  
He struggled from the blood-slick article of clothing, hissing lightly as the  
movement pained him. Her expression softened, and she reached out to help him draw it  
off, chucking the damp material carelessly aside. His eyes fluttered as she ran a fingertip  
lightly across the sculpted muscles of his biceps, probing the wounds as gently as she  
could.   
  
"You're gettin' a lot of practice playing nursemaid."  
  
Her full lips curved slightly. "Only 'cause you keep getting your ass whooped  
on."  
  
"Hey, I did *not*-"  
  
"It's not too bad." she interrupted. "At any rate, you shouldn't bleed to death  
before we can get back to Logan's. Just keep your jacket on it to slow the bleeding."  
  
"Or you could take your shirt off, and I could use that."  
  
"How 'bout I take it off and shove it up your ass?"  
  
"Ah...how 'bout you just take it off? I mean, what if my jacket's not enough? I  
could need something else to keep the blood flow down. You wouldn't want me up and  
passin' out on you again, now would you, Max?"  
  
She took his hands in her own, his flesh warm against hers as she turned his  
palms face up and reached to extract the piece of glass nearest her.   
  
He flinched, dark lashes fluttering to eclipse gleaming hazel orbs for a single  
moment.  
  
"Sorry." she murmured. "But I gotta' get this shit out."  
  
"I'll just think happy thoughts. Like the two of us rolling around on the floor in a  
sweaty, naked tangle."  
  
Max's head snapped up. "Alec!" she hissed, a brilliant flare of color  
blossoming in high cheekbones.   
  
He smirked, the slight curl of his lips not quite reaching his eyes, and she sensed  
the pain lurking just out of sight in his beautiful gaze. "I'm picturing it right now, in fact.   
I'll let you be on top, Max, since you're the domineering type."  
  
"Picture me beating your ass, because that's the only type of physical contact  
we're going to have if you keeping spouting off about your perverted fantasies."  
  
"So if I stop does that mean we have a chance of having physical contact other  
than you beating my ass? Such as hot, dirty, make-the-bedsprings-squeak physical  
contact?"  
  
She jerked another piece of glass free, and felt him tense in her grip.  
  
He fell silent, the precious quiet a rarity in his presence, watching her from  
beneath lowered lashes. Moonlight danced and weaved its way throughout the broken  
remnants of nearby windows, painting their bowed faces in luminous silver.  
  
"I'm doing it as gently as I can." she said after a moment, feeling the sudden urge  
to break the silence.   
  
"I know." Alec replied, voice taut with the effort of keeping tears of pain from  
traversing his face.   
  
She glimpsed the glimmer of moisture in his eyes, and raised his bloody fingers to  
her full lips, softly kissing their tips.   
  
"Max, do you like me?" he asked suddenly, trapping her slender hand within his  
own two larger ones. His eyes sought her own, and for a moment he looked as vulnerable  
as a scared, lost little boy.  
  
She blinked up at him, surprised. "No, you big stupid idiot. I heard a gunshot,  
figured you'd gotten your ass in trouble, and came running all because I was hoping to  
finally get rid of you. I paid that stupid greasy little scum five grand to take a bomb out  
of your head because I hated your guts and wanted to watch you die. What the hell do  
you think?"  
  
"Max, I'm in love with you." he blurted. *Why the hell did I just say that?*  
  
Her movement ceased; her gaze surged up to meet his own, two stunned pairs of  
eyes locking. He felt his palms grow slick, perspiration twining as one with blood to  
glaze his flesh.  
  
He looked terrified, for once his mask nowhere to be seen, only Alec peering at  
her now, his eyes dark with emotion.  
  
"Max, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry. I know Loga-"  
  
She thrust his face down to her own, kissing him firmly, her mouth lingering on  
his. "Shut up." Max whispered against his lips. Her mouth closed on Alec's once more,  
claiming him, her tongue flicking out to part his lips.   
  
He leaned into her, seeking the warmth of her body, his own tongue darting out to  
taste her.   
  
Max pulled slightly back, resting her forehead against his, smiling as his harsh  
breath whispered across her silken flesh. "Logan has nothing to do with this anymore.   
He's in the past."  
  
"So you're really not-"  
  
"Still in love with him? No. Sometimes I wonder if I ever actually was in love  
with him, or if I was just grateful. He's the only ordinary to accept me for what I  
am, who doesn't hate me because I was manufactured in a lab. Except for OC, of course.   
Even before the virus, there weren't the sparks between us that you'd expect between two  
people in love. We were just...comfortable." She kissed him softly. "Not like you."  
  
"So you're sayin' there's enough sparks between us to start a forest fire." he said,  
grinning.  
  
"Yeah." Max agreed, grinning back. Then, her voice dropping, she lifted a hand  
to his cheek, caressing the flesh. "Alec, I love you too."  
  
He turned his face into her touch, kissing the warmth of her palm. "What took  
you so long to figure it out?"  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Not too sure of yourself or anything, are you?"  
  
"I just knew that sooner or later you'd have to succumb to my charms. I mean,  
it's not like any woman can resist me for long. You must have the record going for that,  
Max."  
  
"OC's managed to evade your greatness." Max replied, smirking. She returned  
to methodically picking his hands free of glass.  
  
"That's not fair. OC prefers the ladies. You can't throw that in my face."  
  
"Maybe so, but if you're as wonderful as you keep telling people, shouldn't she  
have seen the light and switched teams by now?"  
  
"The only reason she hasn't switched teams yet is because she hasn't gotten a  
taste of me in bed. That would be enough to convert any gay female."  
  
Max snorted. He leaned in to kiss her, and her nostrils flared with his masculine  
scent. "C'mon, Max-if you were gay, that kiss I just gave you would persuade you to  
leave the ladies, am I right?"  
  
"Maybe." she conceded. "Ok, probably."  
  
His lips touched her jaw lightly, the warmth of his tongue present for a single  
moment before he drew back and nipped gently at her ear. "Jesus, what the hell  
happened to you neck?"  
  
"Oh, that. Had a little run-in with Psycho Transgenic."   
  
"He did this to you?" Alec asked, fingering the bruise flaring vividly against  
carmel flesh.  
  
"Yeah; knocked me off a building too. Hurt like a bitch. I was fighting him  
when I heard gunshots, and figured you'd gotten your ass in trouble again. Lucky I  
happened to be nearby."  
  
"Well I hope you broke his balls for leaving this little token behind." He kissed  
the mark lightly. Max's lips curved in a smile as his mouth fell warm against her flesh.   
He nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck, his breath whispering gently across her  
skin. His lips moved softly against the delicate flesh of her throat, thrusting shivers down  
her spine. "I love you, Max." he whispered huskily, and pressed a kiss to the side of her  
head.  
  
"I always knew you had some good taste lurking behind those big-chested whores  
you were prone to picking up at Crash."  
  
He lifted her hand to his mouth, kissing blood-smeared knuckles. "I only brought  
them home because I knew it would be a cold day in hell before you agreed to come  
home with me." He shrugged. "And because they looked like good lays."  
  
"Stop." She gently disentangled her fingers from his. "I'm trying to work here."  
  
"Logan's probably having a coronary right about now." he murmured, kissing his  
way across her chin. "I was on the phone with him when White and his goons pulled up.   
He probably thinks I'm dead."  
  
"Call him on your cell. Tell him not to bother staging a rescue; we're fine."  
  
He winced as another piece of glass parted with the shredded flesh of his palms.   
"Says you."  
  
"Hey, it's not like I escaped all pretty like. I told you that jerk chucked me off a  
building, and he got a couple of good hits in. I'm gonna' be black and blue for a few  
days. Not to mention, I had to haul your unconscious ass in here, considering that I really  
didn't want to stick around and find out when White was going to wake up."  
  
"You were probably just going to leave me there, until you recognized that me  
bein' unconscious was a way to cop a feel on my ass without me noticing."  
  
"Is everything always about your ass?" Max demanded, scowling.   
  
"Should be. Ow! Jesus, Max! Go easy, would you?"  
  
"I am. You're just being a big baby." She studied his face for a moment, brows  
knitting. A slender hand touched his face, lingering lightly against soft flesh. "You still  
feel too hot. Are you sure you're fine?"  
  
"Yeah. Well, not fine; frankly, I feel like shit. But I probably just got a slight  
fever comin' on; my immune system's had to fight off a lot of infections lately, what with  
me gettin' shot at Jam Pony, then stabbed by White. It's a lot to handle, even for a  
transgenic's healing capabilities."  
  
"I'm just checking. I'm not carrying you anywhere else."  
  
"Max, you're too good to me; 'I'm so glad to hear you being a dumb smartass  
again. Shut up. You're a dickhead. I'm not carrying you anywhere else.'" he  
mimicked.  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"C'mon, Max, you don't really mean that, do you? I know how much you love  
the sound of my voice; you can't want me to shut up."  
  
She scowled. "You're such a-"  
  
"Wonderful, gorgeous, and insanely brilliant man? Thanks, Max, but you don't  
have to tell me something I already know."  
  
"Believe me, that wasn't what I was going to say." She released his hands, and he  
allowed her to go reluctantly, already mourning the loss of her warmth. "Come on; time  
to get you home. Can you stand ok?"  
  
"Max, I'm insulted. What do you think I am? An invalid? Of course I can  
stand." Alec replied, his full lips quirked in a frown. He rose unsteadily to his feet,  
dizziness thrusting his temple. The slick of bile surged upward to glaze his throat.  
  
Max reached for him as he swayed, slinging one arm over her shoulders.  
  
Alec scowled. "How's this going to look when I come limping into Logan's  
apartment with you half-carrying me over your shoulders?"  
  
Max shrugged. "Just tell them I was desperate for any excuse to throw myself  
into your arms." 


	18. Signs

A/N: Sorry this took so long to get up. Computer problems. Ugh. Enough said on that subject. I'm not sure exactly how long this story is going to be, but I'm figuring somewhere around 22 chapters plus the epilogue. I'm already working on the next chapter, plus I have a new long-assed story I've started, and I'm tossing around ideas for some more standalones. Also, if you notice, this chapter takes place two weeks after the last one did. Just a note.  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine. You know this, I know this, the people who own Dark Angel know this.  
Chapter Seventeen  
____________________________________________________________  
Signs  
Jam Pony Xpress  
Seattle, Wa., September 28th, 2021  
His masculine scent wafted to gently entice her nostrils, softly permeating the  
surrounding atmosphere. She watched him from beneath lowered lashes, an amused  
smile curving full lips. *Gone the extra mile, have ya', pretty boy?* She hooked a leg over  
either side of the bench she perched on to straddle it, mahogany orbs lingering over his  
frantic movements.   
  
"Yo' plannin' on winein' and dinein' my Boo today o' somethin'?"  
  
Alec turned from his locker, his gaze twining with hers for a moment. "What?"  
  
"Ya' heard what I said. What convinced the resident hot boy that he had to smell  
all pretty today?"  
  
"I always smell pretty, OC." Alec returned with a charming smirk.  
  
"Sure yo' do, but not the way ya' smell today. Yo' been pilin' the shit on. OC's  
nose never misleads her."  
  
He shrugged, unslinging his messenger bag from one muscular shoulder and  
tossing it amongst the jumbled contents of his locker. "So I decided to sneak a little of  
Logan's cologne this morning. It was the only decent-smelling one he had, too-you'd  
think with as much money as he has, the man could afford to buy a few men's perfumes  
that don't smell like dog crap."  
  
"I thought that shit smelled like the expensive stuff. Nice scent fo' ya', hot boy.   
Makes yo' smell a little more...masculine."  
  
He quirked both eyebrows at the young black woman before him. "Are you trying  
to say I normally smell feminine?"  
  
"No, chile', OC just sayin' it's a good scent fo' ya'. Take the compliment with a  
smile, o' shove it up yo' ass."  
  
"That wasn't a compliment." Alec whined, pouting slightly. "You insinuated  
that I usually smell like a girl, but don't today because I'm wearing Logan's cologne."  
  
"Ok, chile', ya' gonna' have it like that, fine; yo' smell like a five-year-old  
hoardin' her mommy's posies in the back pocket o' her cutsey little dress. Ya' happy  
now?"  
  
"Yeah, OC; you always know just how to brighten a guy's day." he said  
sarcastically.  
  
"So what's up with yo' an' my girl? Hot date?"  
  
"Not exactly. But I found a place over in sector 6-nothing special, just a little  
apartment I got for a decent price-and I was plannin' on moving my stuff out of Logan's  
place and heading over there. I just closed the deal about five minutes ago."  
  
"Ah, the wonders o' havin' a cell phone. When did yo' move yo' stuff *into*  
Logan's place? Last I saw, yo' were doin' laundry just 'bout every day an' wearin' the  
same stuff over an' over."  
  
"About a week ago. Max and I scouted out her apartment to make sure White  
didn't have anyone hanging around, then she picked up some things, and we headed over  
to Joshua's." His voice lowered for a moment. "And I packed up my stuff. Kinda' tiring  
to keep doin' laundry over and over again."  
  
" 'Specially when yo' a male with minimal ta' no domestic skills."   
  
Alec returned her smirk with one of his own. "Anyway, I was hoping Max might  
want to...you know, come with me. I'm gonna' ride my bike over to Logan's and spend  
my lunch break with her." He slammed the door to his locker, the metallic clash  
reverberating throughout the old building. "You think she'll just want to crash at  
Logan's? Not bother movin' again?" he asked softly.  
  
"Honey, Max loves yo' now in case ya' forgot that. An' she loves yo' dumb ass a  
lot. She not gonna' want to stay with Logan when yo' got a perfectly good place waitin'.   
She'll move out in a heartbeat, chile'. It ain't exactly comfortable fo' her to be livin' at  
Logan's when yo' two are gettin' all cozy together."  
  
"Maybe. But this is Max we're talking about. She might freak and think we're  
moving too fast."  
  
It was OC's turn to shrug this time. "Maybe. But OC thinkin' her girl won't  
hesitate. And she ain't never wrong 'bout these things."  
  
Alec's lips curled faintly as he removed the leather biker gloves from both hands.   
"Hope you're right."  
  
"Yo' take good care of my Boo, ya' hear? O' Original Cindy gonna' lay the  
smackdown on yo' fine, genetically engineered ass." she demanded, the threat offset by  
the softness of her voice. He glanced at her, pocketing both gloves within his jacket,  
another little smile curving his mouth as he perused her surprisingly fond eyes.   
  
"Don't worry about it. I'd give my life for her."  
* * *  
Her nostrils flared with his scent even before the door thrust aside to encompass  
his dripping figure, but the knowledge of his arrival barely registered within the fogged  
depths of her mind. She stared numbly upward, eyes frosted in blankness, trembling  
fingers clutching a crumpled newspaper to her chest. It bucked slightly in her grip,  
whispering softly against clothing, its surface marred by teardrops.  
  
"Max." he called, and she blinked, her eyes straying to his rain-slick features. He  
flung open his arms to her, flashing a smirk, announcing his presence to the world-or at  
least to one high-society apartment in Seattle-as though he expected trumpets and a  
parade. "Hey, hey."  
  
"Hey." she whispered weakly.  
  
Any semblance of joviality dissipated immediately. "What's wrong?" he asked,  
crossing to kneel beside the couch where she lay.   
  
She felt his fingers move to softly caress her hair, and the tender gesture roused  
tears to already damp lashes.  
  
"Max?" Alec said tentatively, his thumb stroking the soft curve of her cheekbone.   
His gaze surged to the paper in her hands, a trashy tabloid depicting the dog-like features  
of one of the elite genetically-engineered. *Joshua.* he realized grimly.  
  
He leaned over her to kiss the single tear that streaked her flesh, taking the paper  
from slack fingers and setting it on the table.  
  
"I went back there today. I just had to see it for some reason. I didn't think I  
could handle it, last week when we went back to get your stuff. That's why I stayed  
outside. But today..." she trailed off, lips trembling in a way that tightened his chest.  
  
He laid his cheek against the top of her head, breathing her scent, trailing his  
fingertips lightly down the side of her face. She turned her face into the warmth of his  
palm, kissing his hand. "I saw where he died. His blood." Her voice cracked.  
  
"I know, Max." he whispered, gently kissing her forehead. His own experience  
revisiting the old Sandeman house had been just as unpleasant. There had been no  
collection of evidence, no marking the house off with crime tape so Joshua's death could  
be looked into. No one cared who had killed the 'freak,' and for those who did, it was  
only so they could track the murderers down and give them a pat on the back for ridding  
the fair city of Seattle of a bit of transgenic trash.   
  
*No one's going to be patting Joshua's killers on the back anytime soon.* Alec  
thought darkly, draping an arm across Max, closing his eyes against images of broken  
bodies lying still against glistening pavement.  
  
They stayed like that for a long moment, content in the comfort offered by the  
other. Soft breathing permeated the apartment, penetrating the stillness.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Max asked after a moment. "Shouldn't you be at  
work?"  
  
"Lunch break." Alec replied, drawing back. "Rode my bike over. In the pouring  
rain, I might add."  
  
Her lips curved slightly. "So I've got you whipped now?" she said, reaching to  
stroke sodden strands of hair from his forehead.   
  
"Nah. Come on, Max. The playah himself whipped? No way."  
  
"Any sign of Sketchy yet?"   
  
Alec's face grew somber. "No. He's still missing. And fired, if he can 'drag his  
drunken ass in long enough to figure that out,' as Normal put it."  
  
"Where the hell could he be?" Max asked, shaking her head as she thrust into  
sitting position. "OC says he hasn't shown up for about two weeks now."  
  
"I don't know. But Sketchy's not exactly the most responsible man around, Max,  
you know that. Maybe he's passed out in a gutter somewhere, sleepin' off the last of his  
latest trip to Crash."  
  
"For two weeks?" she asked skeptically, lifting an eyebrow.   
  
He laid his head against her shoulder, his mouth lightly touching the flesh of her  
neck. "Hey, with the way that guy chugs his beer..."  
  
Max sighed and scooted closer to him, seeking the warmth of his body. "Sketchy  
wouldn't just disappear for two weeks. Not unless something had happened." She  
dropped her head to rest it against his own damp one, absently stroking the hair at the  
nape of his neck. "What if-"  
  
"Max, don't worry about it. We'll do some checkin' up, I promise. Find out  
where he ran off to." he said quietly, kissing her lips gently. Then he drew back, taking  
her hands in his own, his expression serious. "Max, I'm movin' out today. I think  
Logan's had just about all he can take of me."  
  
"What?" she demanded, straightening, her grip on his finger tightening. "What  
do you mean you're moving out?"  
  
"I mean as in packing up my stuff and taking it over to my new apartment."  
  
She blinked. "New apartment. When the hell did this happen?"  
  
"I just worked it all out today, at Jam Pony. It's a place over in sector 6-nothing  
fancy, like this, but it's a place to stay. I think you can probably imagine why I'd rather  
not move back into Joshua's."   
  
"Yeah." she whispered.  
  
He raised her fingertips to his mouth and kissed them firmly, his lips lingering  
over soft flesh. "Max, I want you to come with me. Move into this new place I got. We  
can have our stuff outta' here by tonight. We'll have our own place." he said quietly,  
perusing her face as he spoke. He swallowed around the sudden lump crusting his throat,  
his large hands tensing around her own slender ones. "But if you don't want to, I  
completely understand. If that's moving too fast...You can see if OC's got room, or  
maybe just stay here..." he trailed off, cringing at how pathetic he sounded.  
  
*He looks scared.* she thought, peering wide-eyed back at him. She felt his grasp  
slacken, the warmth of his fingers dissipate as he pulled them away.  
  
"Hey." she snapped, snatching them back. "Who the hell said you could leave?"   
Then her voice softened, and her lips curved in a small smile. "Alec, I don't want to stay  
here. I'd rather be with you."  
  
His eyes brightened. "Really?"  
  
"Yeah." Max replied, reaching out to ruffle his hair affectionately.  
He surged forward to kiss her, pulling her lithe frame against his hard body, his  
mouth moving softly against her own, tongue tracing the fullness of her lips. She leaned  
into him, hands grasping for his sodden hair. Her tongue flicked out to meet his own, his  
scent writhing within her sensitive nostrils. He cupped her cheek in his hand, deepening  
the kiss, breath whispering softly over her flesh.  
  
They broke apart a moment later, panting and flushed. Alec's lips traversed the  
slope of her chin to her delicate jaw, closing hotly against carmel flesh.  
  
Her eyes fluttered as she felt him working his way back up, his hands cupping  
either side of her face as he trailed kisses across her chin.   
  
"So I'll come home from work and take you to our new place?" he asked,  
breaking away.  
  
"Sounds like a plan. I'll get my stuff together. And...tell Logan."  
  
"I'll be back in a few hours." Alec promised, and kissed her one final time before  
leaving.  
* * *  
"Kinda' strange."  
  
Logan spared a brief glance toward the woman perched on his couch, his fingers  
still dancing restlessly over the keyboard. "What?"  
  
"The quiet." Asha smiled briefly. "They've been camping out here about two  
weeks, now, right? And all of a sudden they're just gone. No more fighting, no more  
pillow fights, no more Alec remarks."  
  
"Yeah." he said quietly, a pang resonating throughout his chest. "But Alec  
wanted a place of his own. Can't blame the guy. It was getting a little...crowded in  
here."   
  
Asha suspected it might not have seemed so crowded if Max and Alec had still  
been at one another's throats, and not falling asleep together on the couch instead, but  
chose to remain silent on that particular subject.  
  
"It was a good idea. Setting up a place for Max...he can watch after her a lot  
better than I ever could."  
  
"Logan, are you still in love with Max?" Asha asked bluntly.  
He froze, even his fingers stilling this time. She watched his throat pulse in heavy  
breath, crossing both arms over her chest. For a moment, it seemed as though he  
wouldn't answer. Then slowly, lethargically, he spun to face her.  
  
She cocked both eyebrows at him. "Well, are you?"  
  
"Max means a lot to me." Logan said carefully, his cerulean gaze seeking hers  
from behind slightly askew glasses.   
  
"My car means a lot to me. You didn't answer my question."  
  
He sighed and reached to caress weariness from stressed eyes. "I told you before  
that a part of me will always love Max. I wasn't exaggerating. But I know there's no  
chance for us anymore...I'm not going to hold out hope for that anymore. Maybe before,  
if we'd found a cure to the virus, if Alec and Max hadn't gotten...attached, we might have  
had a chance." He shrugged. "But maybe not. Maybe it was meant to be this way."  
  
Asha's lips curved slightly. "I think, whether any of us wants to admit it or not,  
they would have ended up together. They just sort of seem as though they're made for  
each other. Breeding partner thing aside."  
  
Logan's gaze surged to the ground for a moment. Then, with a quiet, wistful  
smile, he looked back up at her. "I think you're right."  
  
"It's time for you to move on, Logan. You can't spend the rest of your life pining  
after someone else's girl. Because that's what Max is now. She's Alec's. It's time to  
move on, put your past behind you, that sort of thing." she said quietly, gathering her  
coat from where it lay draped over the couch.  
  
He watched her go, brow rippling into lines as his gaze followed her slender body.   
*She's right.*   
  
"Asha, wait."  
  
She paused, her hand on the doorknob.  
  
"Do you want to stay for dinner? I'll take a break, cook something nice." he  
spoke tentatively, the words lingering within air scented sweetly by her perfume.  
  
She glanced back over her shoulder at him, a slight smile curving full lips.   
"Yeah. I'd like that."  
Max noted the presence of Alec's precious 'boob tube' with a smile, shaking her  
head slightly. *Of course his beloved TV would be the first thing he moved here.*  
  
Their new apartment, as Alec had warned her, wasn't nearly on a par with  
Logan's penthouse suite, but she'd hardly expected something grand, considering that he  
lived off the paltry earnings of a Jam Pony messenger. The main room held only a  
battered couch and ratty old armchair, the kitchen a few empty cupboards and old stove.  
  
But perusing her surroundings, Max felt her heart leap slightly, the sight of their  
new home bolstering her lagging spirits considerably.   
  
She heard his footsteps on the stairs, and spun in time to see him stagger inside,  
his arms laden with three separate duffel bags. He sagged with an exaggerated grimace  
beneath their weight, the scent of fresh precipitation clinging heavily to his glistening  
body.  
  
"Ma-ax. How the hell much did you pack?" he whined, thrusting his load to the  
ground with a flourish and dusting both hands.  
  
"Are you kidding?" she demanded, lifting an eyebrow. "Two duffel bags for  
twenty years of living?"  
  
"Well what the hell did you put in there? My arms are about to fall off."  
  
"If you're really so weak that carrying a couple of bags full of clothes up a flight  
of stairs practically sends you into cardiac arrest, maybe you should be spending more  
time doing some push-ups."  
  
"Two flights of stairs." he corrected, smirking. "And I'm not weak. Just  
food-deprived. There's only so much punishment my gorgeous body can take before it  
needs nourishment."  
  
Max rolled her eyes.  
  
"So...What do you think?"  
  
"Not bad. Pretty good digs, actually, considering most of the stuff on the market  
today."   
  
"Yeah, well, it would probably be worse than 'not bad' if my wonderful presence  
weren't here to brighten the place up." He smiled wickedly. "What do you say we check  
out the bedroom?"  
  
"Is that all you think about?" she demanded, scowling.  
  
"Yep." Alec replied cheerfully. "You gotta' know, Max-this was all a master  
plan of mine to get you alone so I could seduce you." He raised both eyebrows. "Are  
you seduced yet?"  
  
"Nope." she replied just as cheerfully.  
  
"Max, Max, Max." he said, slowly shaking his head. "What do I gotta' do to get  
you in the sack?"  
  
"We can play later, Big Boy." she promised, flinging the door to the bedroom  
aside and ducking her head into darkness.  
  
"Ooh, 'Big Boy.' I like the sound of that." Alec murmured, smirking as he  
sauntered after her. "Could that be a reference to a certain part of my male anatomy?"  
  
She chose to ignore that, reaching to flick the light switch, painting the room in  
golden illumination.   
  
"Not bad, huh?" he asked, moving to stand beside her.  
  
Max shrugged. "Looks comfy. Can't complain."  
  
"Wait 'til you try this baby out." he replied, flopping backward onto the mattress,  
tucking both hands behind his head. "Guaranteed to give you nothing but sweet dreams."   
He winked. "Well, maybe you won't be dreamin' much, since we'll probably have more  
interesting things to do than sleep, but you would have sweet dreams if you had time to  
sleep."  
  
"I won't have time to sleep?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Gee, Alec, you're  
really hyping yourself up. You think you can live up to all the bragging?" Her voice rang  
with just enough sarcasm to make him feel slightly defensive.  
  
"Not a problem. Transgenic stamina, remember?" He patted the bed beside him,  
lightly rumpling the covers. "Come on, Max. Don't be shy."  
  
"Like that's ever been a problem." she snorted, dropping to perch on the edge.   
He watched her eyes flare and smiled. "Hey, nice." she said, bouncing for emphasis.   
"This feels like something some hoity-toity, stuffed shirt rich ass would have in his  
bedroom. Where the hell did you find it?"  
  
Alec shrugged. "Came with the place. Kinda' surprising; I mean, it's not like the  
rest of the apartment is a shithole, but it's not exactly a five star hotel. The previous  
occupants must have stayed in bed a lot or something." he said, smirking. "Or they  
wouldn't have invested in somethin' this nice."  
  
"Jesus." Max sighed, lying back beside him.  
  
He reached a hand out, lightly touching the silken strands of her hair, his  
fingertips whispering softly against her forehead. "What else would I want to think  
about? Can you think of anything more interesting than sex?" he said in defense of  
himself, before she could voice the oh-so-imaginative 'Is that all you think about?'.  
  
She snuggled against his side, smiling softly as his arm automatically draped over  
her lithe figure, spooning her warmth against the muscular hardness of his body.   
"Depends."  
  
"On what?" he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her temple, his eyes boring into  
hers as he caressed the side of her face.  
  
"On if you're some hormonally-overloaded dickhead or not."  
  
His forehead rippled into lines of hurt. "Max." Alec whined, pouting. "You still  
think I'm just a hormonally-overloaded dickhead after all the times I've put my ass on the  
line for you? You know what a sacrifice that is? I mean, don't you realize how many  
women would be devastated if that specific part of my anatomy was damaged?"  
  
"Oh God." she groaned, pulling slightly away. "You're such a conceited  
bastard."  
  
He chuckled and thrust up on one elbow, reaching to snag her jacket as her  
warmth dissipated into the surrounding chill of the room. She halted her movement, and  
lay still as he seized her hand, loosely entwining their fingers.  
  
Max smiled at his puppy-dog expression. "Hormonally-overloaded. Maybe not  
dickhead." she amended with a shrug. "And don't worry about the women who would  
be devastated if your ass got shot up. 'Cause whether they like it or not, it's my ass now."  
  
"So I'm your ass?" he replied, making a face. "Not sure if I really like that."  
  
"You know what I mean." she said, punching him on the arm.  
  
Alec grasped her hand before she could pull it away, and thrust her forward, into  
his arms, her body sprawling atop his. "Yeah. You're laying your claim of ownership."   
He smirked.  
  
She ruffled his hair with a gloved palm, placing a light kiss on his forehead.   
"You're my property, aren't you? People have a right to claim ownership on their own  
property."  
  
"Property? Well why don't you just whip out the leash and dog collar, Max?" he  
asked wryly, circling both strong arms around her slender waist. "And while you're at  
it-"  
  
She silenced him with her lips, her mouth caressing his own, fluttering his eyes  
closed. He shifted beneath her, hands traversing the curve of her back to tangle within  
the satin fall of her hair.   
  
They kissed long and slow, heat flowing between them, breath flowing raggedly.   
Alec pulled slightly back, lowering his head to sample the flesh of her neck, his teeth  
nipping gently at heated skin. Max entwined her fingers within his hair, tilting her chin  
to allow him access, a low purr rumbling from her throat as his tongue flicked out to  
softly stroke the curve of her throat.  
  
He worked his way back up, the warmth of his tongue present at her jaw for a  
single moment before she felt his mouth on hers once more.  
  
She leaned into him, her grasp on his hair tightening as the kiss grew harder. His  
tongue traversed the fullness of her bottom lip, parting her mouth to taste its depths, his  
hands surging to cup the base of her skull. She arched slightly against him, drawing her  
fingers lightly down his neck, a smile curving full lips as she felt him shiver.  
  
They drew apart a moment later, panting, eyes fluttering.  
  
Alec nuzzled his face into her neck, heart drumming insistently within his chest.   
"Max I love you." he said softly, his eyes seeking her own as he lifted his head slightly.  
  
"Well who wouldn't?" she returned with a cocky smirk of her own.  
  
"And you keep complaining about *my* ego."  
  
"Hey, I learned from the best." Max retorted, touching a slender hand to his  
cheek. Her eyes softened as he kissed her wrist, his lips lingering, warming her flesh. "I  
love you too, asshole." she whispered with a smile, laying her head down on his chest.  
  
"Asshole?" he mumbled, nestling his chin against the top of her head.   
"Asshole?"  
  
"Just shut up, Alec." 


End file.
